Department for Transport

East Midlands Rail Franchise

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that East Midlands Railways is able to access the additional rolling stock set out in the franchise agreement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The additional rolling stock for regional and local services cannot be released from its present operator until that operator introduces its fleet of new trains. Officials are in regular contact with East Midlands Railway and the other train operators involved with this in order to ensure that the changes take place as quickly as possible, whilst not putting the provision of existing services at risk.

Taxis: CCTV

Caroline Dinenage: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making CCTV compulsory in taxis.

Trudy Harrison: The Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards issued in 2020 provides the Government’s view on the merits of installing CCTV in taxis and private hire vehicles; that it can deter those drivers that seek to abuse their position of trust and be of investigative and evidential value when this is alleged. The use of CCTV can provide a safer environment not just for passengers but also for taxi and private hire vehicle drivers who often face verbal and physical assault, which is frequently racially motivated, and from false accusations. All licensing authorities should consult to identify if there are local circumstances which indicate that the installation of CCTV in vehicles would have either a positive or an adverse net effect on the safety of taxi and private hire vehicle users and drivers, taking into account potential privacy issues.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Ivory

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the number of ivory items owned by or collated by his Department.

Paul Scully: The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is not aware of any items of ivory owned by or collated by the Department.

Copyright: Writers

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to help ensure the financial viability of authors as the Intellectual Property Office consults on the copyright regime.

Paul Scully: The Government holds regular discussions with stakeholders about the UK’s copyright framework to ensure it remains fit for purpose. This includes engagement with organisations representing authors and the wider publishing industry.  The Government is currently analysing responses to the consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of IP rights regime, and will provide an update on this consultation in due course.

Electricity Generation

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the additional capacity needs for UK electricity in (a) 2025 and (b) 2030, as a result of plans to increase electrical heating and vehicles substantially and to grow the economy.

Greg Hands: The Government works closely with National Grid Electricity System Operator (NG:ESO) to ensure there is adequate capacity available to meet peak demand in a range of scenarios, now and in the future. Each year NG:ESO evaluate how much capacity will be necessary to meet demand in the years ahead and utilise this assessment to determine targets for the annual Capacity Market auctions. Auctions held to date have secured the majority of Great Britain’s capacity needs out to 2024/25.  A further two Capacity Market auctions will take place later this winter which will secure electricity supply out to 2025/26.

Wind Power

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the preferred back up capacity is for electricity generation when there is little wind.

Greg Hands: The Capacity Market is the government’s main tool for ensuring security of electricity supply. ​It aims to ensure there is enough capacity to address peak demand in a wide range of scenarios, such as during periods of cold weather or low wind output. The ​Capacity Market is technology neutral. It does not seek to procure specific volumes of capacity from different types of technology. All types of capacity can participate, including renewable technologies, storage, and demand-side response.

Hibiscus Petroleum: Fossil Fuels

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Marigold & Sunflower fossil fuel development proposed by Hibiscus Petroleum with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Perth fossil fuel development proposed by the Parkmead Group with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Glendronach fossil fuel development proposed by Total Energies with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Cheviot (& Peel) fossil fuel development proposed by Alpha Petroleum with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Pilot fossil fuel development proposed by Orcadian Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Isabella fossil fuel development proposed by Total Energies with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Bressay fossil fuel development proposed by Enquest with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Cambo fossil fuel development proposed by Siccar Point Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Glengorm fossil fuel development proposed by CNOOC with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Bentley fossil fuel development proposed by Enquest with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Clair South fossil fuel development proposed by BP with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Rosebank fossil fuel development proposed by Equinor with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Belinda fossil fuel development proposed by Tailwind Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Alwyn East fossil fuel development proposed by Total Energies with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Eagle fossil fuel development proposed by Hibiscus Petroleum with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Biscathorpe fossil fuel development proposed by Egdon with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Puddletown fossil fuel development proposed by South West Energy Ltd with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the West Newton fossil fuel development proposed by Rathlin Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Dunsfold fossil fuel development proposed by Oil and Gas UK with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Balcombe fossil fuel development proposed by Angus Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Greg Hands: All previously licensed fields are accounted for in terms of projected production and estimated emissions and the Government is confident that they can be developed, even as the UK seeks to achieve its commitment to net zero by 2050.

Property: Ownership

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether it is Government policy to introduce a public beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property.

Paul Scully: As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement I made on 2nd November 2021 (HCWS366), the Government remains committed to establishing a new beneficial ownership register of overseas entities that own UK property. This register will help combat money laundering and achieve greater transparency in the UK property market. We will legislate when parliamentary time allows.

Climate Change: Research

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much funding he has allocated to climate science and research in each year since 2010.

Paul Scully: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) estimates that around £116 million per annum has been committed over the last ten years through their Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) into research related to climate science. In addition funding for the Met Office Hadley Centre Climate Programme has almost doubled since 2010.

Intellectual Property: Writers

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of an international exhaustion regime on UK authors.

Paul Scully: The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. The Government is currently assessing consultation responses. and will provide an update on this consultation in due course.

Locksmiths: Fraud

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of regulating the locksmith industry to protect people from rogue locksmiths operating in the UK.

Paul Scully: Locksmiths are subject to the stringent consumer protection laws already in place against unfair trading practices in the same way as any other trader/business which has dealings with consumers. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) sets out the standards consumers can expect when traders, including locksmiths, supply services, and the remedies if these rights are breached. Similarly, the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) protect consumers from being misled about the products or services they buy. The CPRs also outlaw behaviour which falls short of the requirements of professional diligence. The Regulations carry criminal penalties and are enforced by Trading Standards Officers. Consumers are encouraged to use service providers that operate under a regulated trusted trader scheme. For example, the Master Locksmiths Association (MLA), has a robust licensing scheme in place to ensure approved locksmiths are appropriately vetted, inspected and qualified. This scheme is approved by the Police Crime Prevention Initiative’s ‘Secured by Design’, which sets the industry gold standard for security products and interventions to design out crime.

Charities: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support medical research charities to restore their research capacity to levels prior to the covid-19 outbreak.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of covid-19 on medical research charities.

Paul Scully: In May, the Government announced £20 million to support the lifesaving work of medical research charities by helping develop the pipeline of early careers researchers working in related fields. In addition, the Government already provides significant funding to charities’ research, for example through Research England’s Quality Related (QR) charity support funding. This year charity QR will amount to £204 million, to support charity funded research in universities in England and equivalent support is provided in Scotland through devolved funding arrangements.

Skilled Workers: STEM Subjects

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to (a) increase the domestic workforce of STEM professionals and (b) maintain the UK as an attractive destination to overseas researchers.

Paul Scully: The record level of investment announced for the UK research base at the Spending Review lays the strong foundation to realise our ambition to make the UK the most exciting place in the world for top research and innovation talent. In July, the Government published the R&D People and Culture Strategy, which sets out our actions to attract, retain and develop talented people, making sure R&D careers in the UK are appealing to talented individuals and teams both domestically and internationally. In line with the strategy, we are working with the Home Office to drive reforms to improve high skilled migration routes for innovators, entrepreneurs and top talent and we are working with the Office for Talent to launch an online service to attract highly skilled, international talent. The strategy recognises the need to identify skills gaps, anticipate future needs, and ensure we have the workforce the UK needs, and commits to action to support STEM education and careers.

Research: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on (a) private investment and (b) the Government's ambition to be a world leader in science investment of extending the target of spending £22 billion per year on research and development from 2024 to 2026-7.

Paul Scully: The Government is providing the fastest ever sustained uplift in R&D funding, reaching £20bn per annum by the end of the SR period – £5bn more than 2021/22. We remain committed to the target of UK economy-wide R&D investment reaching 2.4% of GDP by 2027. The UK already has world-class science and research and is ranked as one of the most innovative countries in the world.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Innovation and Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will ensure that the UK Shared Prosperity Fund includes a research and innovation focus.

Paul Scully: The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) will help people access opportunity in places in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people in disadvantaged groups across the UK. Further details on the UKSPF will be published in due course.

Living Wage and Minimum Wage: Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the impact on the disposable income of young people on the National Minimum Wage Youth Rate compared to those who are in receipt of the National Living Wage.

Paul Scully: The Low Pay Commission (LPC) is an independent and expert body which makes annual recommendations on the appropriate rates for National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, and on other wage-related issues. Its Commissioners are balanced between employer and worker representatives and independent Commissioners. The LPC base their recommendations on economic, labour market and pay analysis, independent research, and stakeholder evidence. The Government has accepted LPC recommendations to increase the minimum wage rates for all groups from April 2022. The Youth Rate, which applies to those aged 16 & 17, will increase by 19p (4.1%) from £4.62 to £4.81. This equates to an over £300 annual increase to gross pay of full-time workers on the Youth Rate, and our best estimates suggest that around 30,000 16-17 years olds will benefit from this uprating.

Intellectual Property

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department has taken to ensure that concerns of the publishing industry and wider creative  industries are taken into account by the Intellectual Property Office in its consultation into the UK’s future intellectual property regime.

Paul Scully: The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. Before and during the consultation period, the Intellectual Property Office held constructive discussions with stakeholders across multiple business sectors, including representatives of the publishing industry and wider creative industries. The Government is currently considering consultation responses and is grateful for the contributions from interested parties.

Arts: Intellectual Property

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential impact on UK creative industries exports in the event of international exhaustion regime being implemented following consultation by the Intellectual Property Office.

Paul Scully: The Government recently held a consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime. The Government is currently assessing consultation responses. and will provide an update on this consultation in due course.

Biofuels: Electricity Generation

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will list each of the countries (a) from which wood pellets burnt in UK power stations are sourced and (b) in which officials in his Department have conducted site visits to affected forests.

Greg Hands: This data is publicly available from Ofgem’s Renewables Obligation Annual Report 2019-20.

Biofuels: Electricity Generation

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the volume of wood pellets that will be burnt to produce electricity in each of the next five years.

Greg Hands: Projections of generation from renewable sources, which includes wood pellets, are available in Annex L of BEIS Energy and Emissions projections at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-energy-and-emissions-projections-2019

Carbon Emissions: Public Appointments

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will establish a Minister for Carbon Reduction to help ensure that the UK meets its climate obligations.

Greg Hands: My Rt. Hon. Friend Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is accountable to Parliament for meeting net zero, with me also leading on a number of areas, including:Net Zero Strategy;Carbon budgets;Green finance (jointly with Her Majesty’s Treasury);Low carbon generation;Nuclear;Hydrogen; andIndustrial decarbonisation.

Business: Carbon Emissions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans he has to introduce financial incentives and penalties for businesses to encourage them to reduce their carbon footprint and help the UK meet its climate targets.

Greg Hands: As a result of this Government’s leadership, businesses and financial institutions across the UK are playing their part in helping the UK meet its climate targets. Over half of the UK’s largest businesses have committed to eliminate their contribution to carbon emissions by 2050, representing a total market capital of over £1.2 trillion and combined annual turnover of £700 billion These pledges have tripled in the past 10 months, cementing British businesses’ position in leading the way in the world’s transition to a low carbon economy At COP26, the Government also announced that the UK will become first G20 country to make it mandatory for Britain’s largest businesses to disclose their climate-related risks and opportunities, in line with Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations

Repsol Sinopec Resources UK: Fossil Fuels

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Tain fossil fuel development proposed by Repsol Sinopec Resources UK with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Talbot fossil fuel development proposed by Harbour Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Platypus fossil fuel development with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Goddard fossil fuel development proposed by Independent Oil and Gas with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Avalon fossil fuel development proposed by Ping Petroleum with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Victory fossil fuel development proposed by Corrallian Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Tolmount East fossil fuel development proposed by Harbour Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Verbier fossil fuel development proposed by Jersey Oil & Gas with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Solar fossil fuel development proposed by Shell with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Leverett fossil fuel development proposed by NEO Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Capercaillie fossil fuel development proposed by BP with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the compatibility of the Tornado fossil fuel development proposed by Siccar Point Energy with the UK’s target to achieve net zero by 2050.

Greg Hands: All previously licensed fields are accounted for in terms of projected production and estimated emissions and the Government is confident that they can be developed, even as the UK seeks to achieve its commitment to net zero by 2050.

Department of Health and Social Care

Cancer: Health Services

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support for personalised cancer care he plans to put in place under the NHS Long-Term Plan.

Maria Caulfield: The National Health Service (NHS) Long Term Plan states that where appropriate every person diagnosed with cancer should receive a Personalised Care and Support Plan based on holistic needs assessment, end of treatment summaries and health and wellbeing information and support, including for mental health needs. Cancer Alliances are leading programmes of work to embed these personalised care interventions within local providers. NHS England and Improvement is supporting staff to offer personalised care to people affected by cancer by promoting awareness and understanding of the interventions and how to improve their quality. This includes providing resources such as a handbook on personalised stratified follow up, a checklist on health and wellbeing information and support, and sharing of best practice. In addition, the revised Cancer Care Review requirements for General Practitioner (GP) practices mean patients’ holistic support needs will be assessed twice in their first year after diagnosis. This requirement encourages GP practices to have early and supportive conversations with cancer patients about their needs and ensure patients are aware of what help is available in the community.

Mental Health Services

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to (a) healthcare practitioners and (b) other relevant figures to support the transition from child to adult mental health support services.

Gillian Keegan: While the Department has not issued such guidance, in January 2015, NHS England published a model specification for transitions from child and adolescent mental health services, to support better planning and delivery by local providers.

Osteoporosis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with osteoporosis in the UK in each of the last three years; and if he will breakdown those figures by (a) age and (b) gender.

Gillian Keegan: NHS Digital have provided a count of hospital admissions in England in each of the last three years where osteoporosis was the main diagnosis, split by patient age and gender.The information is not collected in the format requested. However, the table shows a count of finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of osteoporosis, broken down by age and gender for the years 2018/19 - 2020/21.Please note that this is not a count of people as the same person can be admitted to hospital on more than one occasion. Initial diagnosis of the condition may have taken place in a previous financial year to the one in which the hospital admissions shown here have taken place. Additionally, there may be people diagnosed with the condition who do not require a hospital admission for it and would therefore not be recorded in this data, as osteoporosis develops slowly over a number of years and not all those who have it will require a hospital admission.NHS Digital are unable to provide a complete count of the number of people who have been newly diagnosed with osteoporosis by age and gender as some could be diagnosed in other settings, such as general practice.A Count of Finished Admission Episodes Oestroporos (docx, 23.5KB)

Mental Health Services: Young People

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure young people can access mental health support in the community.

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken through the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 to help improve young people’s access to mental health support in (a) schools and (b) the community.

Gillian Keegan: On 5 March, we announced an additional £79 million to expand children’s mental health services in 2021/22. This will allow approximately 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more children and young people to access eating disorder services and a faster increase in the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. We are also committed to investing at least an additional £2.3 billion a year into mental health services by 2023/24. This will enable an extra two million people in England, including 345,000 more children and young people, to access National Health Service-funded mental health support. Following the Spending Review, funding allocations, including the provision to different service areas and regions in England, will be announced in due course.

NHS: Drugs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what stocks of (a) meropenem, (b) doxycycline, (c) fentanyl, (d) morphine, (e) midazolam, (f) levomepromazine, (g) paracetamol, (h) ibuprofen, (i) salbutamol inhaler doses and (j) amoxicillin were held in (a) the Essential Medicines Buffer Stock or (b) the UK Stockpile of Medicines for Covid-19 Preparedness, as of 1 October 2021.

Edward Argar: The following table shows the stocks of products in the Essential Medicines Buffer Stock (EMBS) and the United Kingdom Stockpile of Medicines for COVID-19 Preparedness in England as of 1 October. Data for the stocks held by the devolved administrations for the UK Stockpile of Medicines is not held. EMBSCOVID-19 StockpileMeropenem94,398 vials382,130 vialsDoxycycline0816,184 capsulesFentanyl (vials)02,337,687 vialsMorphine injectables0364,646 vialsMorphine tablets025,015 tabletsMorphine oral solution100,739 bottles0Midazolam05,563,570 ampoules/vialsLevomepromazine0776,600 ampoulesParacetamol infusion01,321,453 bottlesParacetamol03,351,232 tabletsIbuprofen00Salbutamol inhaler00Amoxicillin00

Drugs: Cost Effectiveness

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle the policy and system barriers NICE has flagged as preventing the implementation of the discount rate in their Methods and Process Review.

Edward Argar: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for its methods and processes. NICE recently consulted on proposals for changes to its methods and processes, including the discount rate, and is now carefully considering the comments received. NICE’s consultation stated that there is an evidence-based case for changing the reference case discount rate to 1.5% but acknowledged the wider policy and fiscal implications and proposed further consideration of changing the discount rate through wider policy discussions. NICE also proposed to maintain a non-reference case discount rate of 1.5% for use in exceptional circumstances. The Government will take NICE’s findings into account in due course.

Nurses: Training

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what fiscal steps he is taking to fund training opportunities for cancer nurse specialists.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of the additional funding allocated to the NHS in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 will be allocated to fund cancer nurse specialists.

Edward Argar: The Spending Review 2020 provided £260 million to continue to grow our National Health Service workforce and support commitments made in the NHS Long Term Plan. This included £52 million in 2021/2022 for Health Education England to further invest in the cancer and diagnostics workforce, including offering training grants for 250 nurses wishing to become cancer clinical nurse specialists and for an additional 100 nurses wishing to become chemotherapy nurses. The Spending Review 2021 delivers a three-year settlement from 2022/2023 to 2024/2025 inclusive. A three-year settlement provides greater certainty on funding and supports longer term planning and investment in the workforce in England. Following the outcome of the Spending Review 2021, spending plans for individual budgets for 2022/2023 to 2024/2025 inclusive, including for training cancer nurse specialists, will be subject to a detailed financial planning exercise and finalised in due course.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to reply to the letters from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare of 16July and 20September 2021 on behalf of constituentMr Stevens.

Edward Argar: I replied to the hon. Member on 13 October 2021.

Orphan Drugs

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which medicines with an EMA Orphan Medicines Product designation have been appraised by NICE through a Single Technology Appraisal process; and what category of recommendation, (a) recommended, (b) optimised, (c) Cancer Drugs Fund, (d) not recommended and (e) only in research, was made in each case.

Edward Argar: The attached table lists medicines with a European Medicines Agency orphan designation appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence through the single technology appraisal process and the category of recommendation made in each case. EMA Orphan Meds Appraisal table  (docx, 30.0KB)

Hyaluronidase

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in what procedures is hyaluronidase permitted to be used by medical practitioners.

Edward Argar: Hyaluronidase is licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for the following indications: Enhance permeation of subcutaneous or intramuscular injections by subcutaneous injection, or by intramuscular injection; enhance permeation of local anaesthetics by local infiltration; enhance permeation of ophthalmic local anaesthetic to the eye; hypodermoclysis by subcutaneous injection; and extravasation by local infiltration. There is no definitive list of procedures in which it can be used.

Ambulance Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of access to (a) social care pathways and (b) GP appointments and primary care on the number of ambulance callouts.

Edward Argar: No assessment has been made of the effect of access to social care pathways and General Practice (GP) appointments and primary care on ambulance callouts.Ambulance services operate as part of an interconnected urgent and emergency care (UEC) system and work closely at the local and regional level to ensure that patients receive the safest and most effective response from the right service to achieve the best outcomes. This includes working closely with urgent community responders, GPs, mental health crisis teams, social care and care home workers to ensure ambulances are called out to only those patients whose needs cannot be safely met by other parts of the UEC system.

Drugs: Cost Effectiveness

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the change to the discount rate from 3.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent can be implemented by NICE.

Edward Argar: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body responsible for its methods and processes. NICE recently consulted on proposals for changes to those methods and processes, including the discount rate, and is now considering the responses received.NICE’s consultation stated that there is an evidence-based case for changing the discount rate to 1.5% but acknowledged the wider policy and fiscal implications. It proposed to maintain the existing reference case discount rate while further data is collected on the likely effects of a change to the discount rate. NICE also proposed to maintain a non-reference case discount rate of 1.5% for use in exceptional circumstances.The Department supports NICE’s proposal, which is in line with the expectations for the review as set out in the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access, agreed with industry.

Long Covid

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effects and prevalence of long covid.

Maria Caulfield: Long COVID is still a new condition and it is vital that our understanding of it grows. We have invested over £50 million in dedicated research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of long COVID.The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of self-reported long COVID prevalence on a monthly basis. NHS England and NHS Improvement publish activity data and demographic information for patients who have been referred to a post-COVID assessment clinic.

Cancer: Health Services

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the suitability of the new NHS England Quality of Life survey for people diagnosed with a cancer with a poor one year prognosis.

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to ensure the (a) experiences of and (b) quality of life for people with a cancer with a poor one year prognosis are monitored by national mechanisms so issues in care and support can be identified and addressed.

Maria Caulfield: All people with a cancer diagnosis, including those diagnosed with less survivable cancers, are invited to complete the Cancer Quality of Life Survey. This is an initiative aimed specifically at supporting long term survivorship. For cancer patients who sadly do not survive for 18 months from diagnosis other approaches to assessing their experience, such as the Cancer Patient Experience Survey, will be more appropriate.The Cancer Patient Experience Survey will capture experiences from people treated for cancer, including people with less survivable cancers. Due to the need for statistical robustness, there is a time lag between the experience of treatment and the survey questionnaires being sent out. This creates an issue for capturing insight about the experience of patients with less survivable cancers.The Picker Institute Europe, which carries out the survey on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement, reviewed the survey in 2018 and as a result guidance to trusts was amended to streamline and speed up preparations for the survey.

Vaccination: Children

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the covid-19 outbreak on the delivery of the school based vaccine in 2021-22.

Maria Caulfield: During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, routine childhood immunisation programmes continued to be delivered in primary care. However, the closure of schools from 23 March 2020 meant that the delivery of all school-aged immunisation programmes, including human papillomavirus (HPV), tetanus, diphtheria and polio booster (Td/IPV) and meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) were interrupted from this date onwards.Recovery and restoration continues, with National Health Service providers adopting a flexible and transformative delivery model to ensure those eligible receive their vaccine. This includes prioritisation of immunisations based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, digitalising consent processes and utilising a range of alternative community settings to deliver vaccines where appropriate. NHS England has also been working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Education to ensure that schools facilitate the continuation of vaccinations.

Dental Services: Greater Manchester

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the challenges service users are having in accessing NHS dental services in (a) Salford and (b) Greater Manchester.

Maria Caulfield: NHS dental services continue to operate at reduced capacity, prioritising patients based on clinical need due to infection prevention and control guidance.No waiting list data is held for access to National Health Service dental services in Salford or Greater Manchester.

Parents: Health Visitors

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all new and prospective parents have access to a high quality health visiting service.

Maria Caulfield: Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning of health visiting services in England. The Spending Review confirmed that the Public Health Grant will be maintained in real terms, enabling local authorities across the country to continue delivering critical frontline services for new and prospective parents. In March 2021, commissioning guidance and a modernised health visiting service model were published to support local decision-making and promote quality practice through high impact evidence.

Infant Mortality

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle stillborn and neonatal deaths for babies from (a) minority ethnic and (b) other backgrounds.

Maria Caulfield: To support National Health Service (NHS) maternity services reduce stillbirth and neonatal death rates for babies from minority ethnic and other backgrounds, NHS England and NHS Improvement published ‘Equity and Equality: Guidance for Local Maternity Systems’. This guidance asks Local Maternity Systems (LMS) to produce an equity and equality analysis, covering health outcomes, community assets and staff experience, by 30 November 2021 and to co-produce an equity and equality action plan by 28 February 2022. The guidance can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/C0734-equity-and-equality-guidance-for-local-maternity-systems.pdfLMS are being asked to include four evidence-based interventions that have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in their action plans;targeted and enhanced Continuity of Carer with 75% of women from Black, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups receiving Continuity of Carer by 2024 and additional midwifery time to support women from the most deprived areas. Women who receive Continuity of Carer are 16% less likely to lose their baby;smoke-free pregnancy pathways for mothers and their partners, reducing the risk of stillbirth, preterm birth and infant death;strategies to improve breastfeeding rates for women living in the most deprived areas to reduce babies’ risk of infections, diarrhea and vomiting, and sudden infant death syndrome;culturally-sensitive genetics services for consanguineous couples where appropriate to reduce unexpected affected births (congenital abnormality, infant and child mortality, and serious illness).NHS England and NHS Improvement are providing £6.8m to support LMS to implement their Equity and Equality Action Plans.

Royal Shrewsbury Hospital

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to tackle delays on progress of the Hospitals Transformation Programme at that hospital.

Edward Argar: As with any capital investment, the business case process is led by the Trust in question. In November 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) received a strategic outline business case (SOC) for the Hospital Transformation Programme from the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust and determined that the SOC required further work.In September 2021, the Department made available £370,000 to the Trust for the redevelopment of the SOC and, hence, allow the programme to progress and avoid unnecessary delays. This is part of the £6 million early funding requested by the Trust and approved in principle in November 2020 by the Department and NHSE&I. We are expecting the business case to be received by the Department and NHSE&I national teams for joint review in early 2022.

Care Homes: Visits

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department may take against nursing homes who refuse to allow family visits in response to covid-19 infection rates.

Gillian Keegan: The Department’s guidance is clear that blanket bans on visiting in care homes are not acceptable. All care home residents can choose to nominate an essential care giver who may visit the home to attend to essential care needs, with no limits to the number of named visitors a resident can nominate.If a resident or their family have concerns that a care home is not following visiting guidance appropriately, it should be raised with the home in the first instance. The Care Quality Commission can also investigate complaints where providers do not appropriately support people to have access to visits.

Care Homes: Visits

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support his Department is providing to nursing homes to allow residents to see their loved ones over winter 2021.

Gillian Keegan: We have recently reviewed our guidance on visiting care homes and expect to publish updated guidance shortly. The guidance will help care home providers ensure visits can take place over the winter months.The third Infection Control and Testing fund, announced in October, will provide £388.3 million to support infection prevention and control and testing in adult social care. We have made available more than £2.5 billion for adult social care during the pandemic. We have also provided free personal protective equipment and testing to care home staff, residents and visitors and will continue to do so throughout the winter.

Terminal Illnesses: Social Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department's policy is on how the health and social care levy will be used to improve the quality of care for people with a terminal illness.

Gillian Keegan: Following the recent Spending Review, NHS England and NHS Improvement will outline allocations to locals systems, including funding for specific programmes such as palliative and end of life care, in due course.

Teignmouth Hospital

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 September 2021 to Question 51707 on Teignmouth Hospital, whether he will make a decision on the future of Teignmouth Hospital before the end of 2021.

Edward Argar: After careful consideration of the information provided by Devon County Council Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee since they first made the request to refer on the 25 March 2021, the Secretary of State has made the decision to refer this case to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel for independent advice.

Ambulance Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the number of ambulance callouts in 2021 with each of the last five years.

Edward Argar: The following table compares the number of ambulance callouts in 2021 (face-to-face responses by the ambulance service) in England with previous years.The number of callouts between January and September is provided for each year (to reflect the most recent data available in 2021). Please note that ambulance trust data definitions were changed in 2017, and current data is not directly comparable. Year (Jan - Sep)Number of face-to-face responsesPercentage difference20216,118,27520205,921,3063.2% less than 202120196,030,9921.4% less than 202120185,786,5935.4% less than 2021

Dentistry: EU Nationals

Dr Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has been made of the additional training and administrative cost for EU dentists seeking to work in the NHS beyond that required to enter private practice.

Edward Argar: The Department has in place a period of continued automatic recognition, allowing European Union (EU) dentists continued ease of registration in the United Kingdom. In order to work in the National Health Service (NHS), dentists must also apply to the Dental Performers List. Holders of non-UK qualifications are required to undertake a foundation training programme before admittance to the performers list, however the exemption for EU applicants remains in place. This means that EU dentists do not currently incur any additional costs to practicing in the NHS than they did previously.

NHS England: Energy

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the financial cost of increases in energy prices will be for NHS England in financial years (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23.

Edward Argar: Whilst NHS England and NHS Improvement have made no formal estimate, National Health Service organisations are responsible for their energy strategy, including responding to energy price changes. Where this occurs, organisations can reconsider their purchasing strategies by entering into longer term contracts for greater certainty of costs and reduce demand by upgrading existing inefficient systems. In addition, NHS organisations can increase their longer-term resilience by installing on-site renewable energy.

Pharmacy: Procurement

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of the shortage of HGV drivers on medical supply chains for pharmacies.

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that adequate stocks of diabetic (a) equipment and (b) medicine remain available in pharmacies across the UK in the context of the shortage of HGV drivers.

Edward Argar: The Department continues to engage closely with the sector to assess the impact of logistics and supply disruptions on the continued supply of medical products, including the impact of HGV driver shortages. Whilst we were made aware of some localised concerns, there have not been any significant impacts on medical supply chains that have impacted on patients.The Department has contingency plans in place to help ensure continuity of supply of medical products, including the following;standing up the National Supply Disruption Response to 24 hours, seven days a week to provide a single point of contact for suppliers and providers seeking urgent assistance with a critical supply disruption anywhere in the United Kingdom;mobilising our in-house expert logistics service, the international Express Freight Service, to provide end to end, emergency, international freight solutions for any medical product across the world in the event of acute disruption.These plans, alongside other mitigations, enable us to help ensure continued supply during periods of national disruption, including for diabetic equipment and medicine in pharmacies. Pharmacists should continue to place orders in the normal way. If pharmacists have any concerns regarding supply, they should continue to report them via the normal route.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Ivory

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what estimate he has made of the number of ivory items owned by or collated by his Department.

David T C Davies: The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales has not made any estimates of the number of ivory items owned by or collated in this Department or institutions owned or managed by the Government.

Department for Education

Sixth Form Education: Finance

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the Budget on (a) Sir John Deans Sixth Form College and (b) other sixth form colleges.

Michelle Donelan: The Spending Review has made available an extra £1.6 billion per year for 16-19 education in financial year 2024-25 compared with 2021-22. This will fully fund the additional students we anticipate in the system, pay for the increasing take-up of T Levels, maintain funding per student in real terms, and enable increased time in education for all 16 to 19 year olds. The department will set out details of how this additional funding will be allocated in due course.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2021 to Question 58363, Schools: Mental Health Services, if he will provide additional Government funding to enable every place of education to (a) fulfill the Government's expectation in guidance that all schools should make counselling services available to their pupils and (b) ensure that every child in full-time education has access through their place of education to an appropriately-qualified and professionally registered counsellor with experience of working with young people.

Will Quince: The government is taking action to help schools in a number of ways to build their capability to promote children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as making sure those who need help with their mental health receive appropriate support. In May, we announced more than £17 million to build on existing mental health support available in education settings, including £7 million for Wellbeing for Education Recovery and £9.5 million to funding training for senior mental health leads in around a third of all state schools and colleges this financial year, as part of plans to offer training to all schools and colleges by 2025.This is on top of the £79 million to boost mental health support for children and young people announced in March. This includes increasing the number of Mental Health Support Teams working with schools and colleges – from 59 to 400 by April 2023 – supporting nearly 3 million children, as well as expanding community mental health services. 22,500 more children and young people will have access to such services next year, and an additional 345,000 by 2024. This also includes expanding access to eating disorder services, helping 2,000 more children, and continuing to provide 24/7 crisis lines for young people facing a mental health crisis, with additional funding for follow up treatments at home if necessary.In addition to this, we are investing up to £5 billion to support recovery for children and young people who need it most. This includes an additional £1 billion of new recovery premium funding for disadvantaged pupils – and our guidance is clear that schools can use this funding, as well as other funding such as pupil premium, to support their pupils’ mental health and wellbeing - including for counselling or other therapeutic services, alongside supporting their academic attainment.

Religion: Education

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has on the introduction of initial teacher training financial incentives in the form of bursaries for religious education; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: The bursaries the department offers for initial teacher training (ITT) are intended to incentivise applications to ITT courses. The department reviews the bursaries on offer each year to take account of factors including historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. This provides flexibility to respond to the need to attract new teachers, and means we are spending money where it is needed most.In academic year 2020/21 the department exceeded the postgraduate ITT target in religious education (128% of target). As a result, the department decided to focus the bursaries we offered for academic year 2021/22 on subjects where it is hardest to attract sufficient applicants. We have taken a similar approach for academic year 2022/23 and will review the need for financial incentives across all subjects again before announcing the bursaries for academic year 2023/24.

Free Schools: Autism

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) location and (b) opening dates are of the 24 new special free schools with provision specifically for autistic children and young people described in the national strategy for autistic children, young people and adults: 2021 to 2026.

Will Quince: The free schools programme has already delivered 74 new special free schools, and 63 are working towards opening, helping to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs have access to a high-quality school place, no matter where they live.As part of this, the department is working with trusts and local authorities to open 24 new free schools with specialist provision for children and young people with autism as soon as possible in the following local authority areas:Bedford, Bromley, Bury, Dorset, Hertfordshire, Kent, Kingston Upon Thames, Leeds, Newham, North Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Reading, Rochdale, Salford, Sandwell, Sheffield (two projects approved), Solihull, Stockport, Suffolk, Warrington and Wiltshire.

Special Educational Needs: Reviews

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the Special Educational Needs and Disability review.

Will Quince: The government is working at pace, and extensively with children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), parents, carers, and those working in local government, education, health and care services to ensure that proposals from our SEND Review translate into improved outcomes for children and young people, with a focus on preparing them for later life and adulthood. We will be bringing forward proposals for public consultation in the first quarter of 2022.

Ministry of Justice

Prison Accommodation: Ventilation

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Annual Report of the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) at HMP Winchester, published on 29 October 2021, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of current Prison Service standards for ventilation in ensuring that prison accommodation does not become harmfully hot.

Victoria Atkins: Prison Service Instruction 17/2012 (Certified Prisoner Accommodation) sets out arrangements for the certification and management control of prisoner accommodation, specifically that all accommodation must have heating, lighting and ventilation to recognised technical standards.

Prisoners: Correspondence

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what circumstances letters written by prisoners from within prisons in England and Wales and addressed to (a) hon Members, MSPs, MLAs and MSs, (b) councillors, and (c) other elected officials, will be delivered if those letters contain malicious content.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the prison service treats letters written by prisoners from within prisons in England and Wales and addressed to elected officials differently depending on (a) whether the prison is public sector or contracted out, (b) security categorisation, (c) other differences between prisons in England and Wales.

Victoria Atkins: All prisoners are required to sign and agree to a set of terms and conditions, which prohibits unacceptable content, before they are allowed to correspond with people in the community. Those who breach these rules can face disciplinary actions. Correspondence between prisoners and elected officials, except for local councillors, is treated as confidential, and therefore is only opened or read when identified as necessary and proportionate to do so. Any unwanted contact raised with prisons, including contact with a current or previous victim(s), can and will be prevented. This approach is applied consistently across the prison estate in England and Wales.

Offenders: Electronic Tagging

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of further increasing the number of convicted offenders subject to electronic tagging.

Kit Malthouse: Electronic Monitoring is an effective criminal justice tool helping probation and police reduce crime, bringing rigour and accountability to supervision, whilst keeping the public safe. For convicted offenders it can be targeted to support rehabilitation, public protection, crime reduction and reparation. We are investing £183m in tagging over the next three years, nearly doubling the number of people tagged by 2025. This includes an Innovation Fund to test different ways of using existing technology to cut crime and foster the development of new types of tags. We have expanded our world first Acquisitive Crime Project, it now covers almost half the country and we have undertaken to publish findings from the project evaluation.

Education and Employment: Offenders

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support convicted offenders into education, employment or training.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has recently announced it will invest £200m a year by 2024/25 in initiatives to reduce reoffending which will include additional money for education and employment support. The Secretary of State for Justice outlined our commitment to improving employment outcomes at an Employer Summit in October, attended by over 600 organisations. We are also working to improve prison education. We are testing improved support for prisoners with neurodiverse conditions in 4 prisons and are working to improve prisoners’ skills by working with partners like The Clink Charity to roll out catering training in up to 70 prisons.As part of reforms to probation this year, we have invested £195m to provide specialist services for offenders in the community. This includes the Education, Training and Employment (ETE) services who work directly with offenders to build skills and also with local education/ training providers and employers to widen opportunities.

Trials: Rural Areas

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to clear the backlog of cases awaiting trial in rural areas.

James Cartlidge: We continue to take action to tackle the impact the pandemic has had on our criminal justice systemWe have allocated over a quarter of a billion pounds on recovery in the last financial year, making court buildings safe, rolling out new technology for remote hearings, recruiting additional staff and opening Nightingale courtrooms, including retaining 32 Nightingale Court rooms until the end of March 2022.We are now focused both on increasing capacity of the criminal courts and maximising use of that which we already have in areas where it is needed most. There is no limit on the number of days Crown Courts can sit this financial year. The department is also working closely with the judiciary to ensure We have the capacity required to maximise the number of court hearings taking place this year and to minimise disruption to cases listed for hearings.We are also working with the judiciary to explore moving cases across regional boundaries to areas with spare capacity where appropriate, and using a national, flexible pool of judges for regions to draw from as required, to manage regional discrepancies in pressure across the courts system.The Spending Review will also provide an extra £477m for the criminal justice system to meet the increased demand from additional police officers and to recover performance following the pandemic.

Barristers: Criminal Law

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to encourage junior barristers to specialise in criminal law.

James Cartlidge: Criminal defence lawyers play a crucial role in upholding the rule of law and ensuring access to justice is maintained, and the Government greatly values the work they do. As part of the Criminal Legal Aid Review, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) worked with the Bar Council and other stakeholders to combine key datasets which were summarised in a published Data compendium. This data shows that, in 2019-20, of the barristers who carried out some publicly-funded criminal work and reported themselves as specialising in crime, 87% were junior barristers and 13% were QCs (Table 5.13). Sir Christopher Bellamy QC is leading an independent review of the criminal legal aid market, seeking to ensure it is sustainable into the future. Supporting a diverse workforce and ensuring a pipeline of new entrants and career progression within the professions is an objective within the review’s Terms of Reference. I understand the review is close to completing and the Government aims to publish Sir Christopher's report together with its response as soon as possible.

Members: Correspondence

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when HMCTS Probate plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Warley of 7 September on behalf of Mr and Mrs Chadderton.

James Cartlidge: HMCTS apologises for the delay in responding and confirms they have now responded on the 5th November 2021.

Prison Accommodation

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing the operational capacity of the prison estate in England.

Victoria Atkins: The Justice Secretary has regular conversations on prison capacity with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. These conversations have informed the Spending Review that has just taken place. At the Spending Review, the Chancellor confirmed that the Ministry of Justice would receive £3.5bn over the next three years to create 18,000 additional, modern prison places, and a further £250m was provided to fund up to 2,000 new temporary places.

Rape: Victims

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to improve the experience of victims during the investigation of rape cases.

Victoria Atkins: Our End-to-End Rape Review Action Plan sets out actions to increase the confidence of victims to come forward to report these horrendous crimes and ensure that they are dealt with professionally and sensitively during the investigation and throughout the whole Criminal Justice process. We are committed to transforming the way the police and CPS investigate and prosecute cases towards a default investigatory model that radically shifts the focus away from victim credibility towards the suspect’s behaviour. We are also taking action to ensure that any digital material requested from victims is strictly limited to what is necessary and proportionate to allow reasonable lines of inquiry into the alleged offence, that victims are communicated with effectively throughout any digital evidence collection process and to deliver on the ambition that no victim will be left without a phone for more than 24 hours, in any circumstances. In addition, we recognise that that access to early and continuing support is an essential factor in enabling rape victims to engage with the criminal justice system. As such, during 2021/22 £16 million has been committed to the Rape & Sexual Abuse Support Fund, providing vital funding to almost 80 local support services for victims and survivors of sexual violence and we will be increasing funding to see the number of ISVAs/IDVAs rise to over 1000 by 2024/25 because we know that the right support can help victims continue with cases.

Prisons: Females

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to prevent violence against women in prisons.

Victoria Atkins: Violence against any prisoner or member of staff is unacceptable and we continue to take action to reduce violence across the entire prison estate.Staffing levels are important to managing prison violence. Our Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) model is transforming how we support prisoners and significant investments have been made to recruit an additional 2,500 prison officers to improve safety and deliver key work. In April 2021 we began implementing a gender specific Offender Management in Custody (OMiC) model in the women’s estate.We continue to deliver on our £100m investment in security to reduce crime in prison, clamping down on weapons, drugs and phones that fuel violence behind bars.We have also introduced the Challenge, Intervention and Support Plan (CSIP) to case manage those who pose a raised risk of violence towards others.

Hull Prison: Inspections

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Hull by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, published on 2 November 2021, what steps he will take to address the reduction in ratings at HMP Hull across all four healthy prison outcomes between 2018 and 2021.

Victoria Atkins: We recognise that improvements need to be made at HMP Hull, which as noted by the report, has been significantly impacted by Covid. A robust plan is in place to improve standards and outcomes. As COVID risks reduce, the prison plans further to open up the regime to enable prisoner progression while keeping prisoners and staff safe; and healthcare improvements are being driven through a new Health improvement and assurance board. We agree with the Chief Inspector’s assessment that this is a time of potential and opportunity for the prison. An action plan will be published in due course which will set out the actions being taken to address the recommendations.

Downview Prison: Females

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Downview by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, published on 27 October 2021, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) woman prisoners are treated respectfully and in a trauma-informed way at HMP & YOI Downview and (b) staffing levels are sufficient to enable woman prisoners to access healthcare appointments at HMP & YOI Downview.

Victoria Atkins: We are working closely with HMP/YOI Downview to address the key concerns and recommendations outlined in the report published on 27 October 2021. An action plan will be published in due course which will set out the actions being taken to address the recommendations.

Probation and Young Offenders

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the resource impact for (a) probation and (b) Youth Offending services of increases in the population under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements supervision.

Victoria Atkins: Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) are fully integrated within Probation and Youth Offending Services, and the funding provided to the two Services will cover their responsibilities under MAPPA. Even though the MAPPA Annual Report 2021 shows an increase in the number of offenders managed under MAPPA, it does not distinguish between offenders where the lead agency is the Police, Probation, Youth Offending Services or Mental Health Services. The increase in MAPPA offenders is largely accounted for by individuals convicted of sexual offending subject to lifetime notification requirements, many of whom will no longer be supervised by the Probation Service. This means that the total number of MAPPA offenders is likely to continue to increase but does not necessarily indicate an increase in the number of MAPPA offenders supervised by the Probation Service or the Youth Offending Service. We have committed a minimum of £155 million per year increase for the new unified probation service, a 15% increase on 2019-20 funding.

Coroners' Courts Support Service

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 28 October 2021 to Question 59760 on funding the Coroners’ Courts Support Service, what estimate he has made of the cost of extending support services, such as the Coroners Courts Support Service, to all 85 coroner areas; under what circumstances that would be assessed as affordable; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Pursglove: In February 2019 the Government committed to extend coverage of support services to all 85 coroner areas, subject to affordability and reiterated the commitment in its response to the Justice Committee’s First Report - The Coroner Service in July 2021, noting that further detailed work needed to be done to understand the affordability, and legal and commercial issues in delivering it. The Ministry of Justice is currently unable to share estimated costings of extending support services as this data relates to the development of ongoing Government policy.

Reparation by Offenders

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will increase awareness among magistrates of their ability to impose community payback sentences on offenders.

James Cartlidge: Sentencing in individual cases is a matter for our independent courts. When deciding what sentence to impose, courts take into account the circumstances of the offence as well as any aggravating and mitigating factors, in line with Sentencing Guidelines. Sentencing Guidelines are issued by the independent Sentencing Council and include a description of the community order requirements available, including unpaid work.Magistrates and their legal advisers receive training on the use and application of Sentencing Guidelines. To ensure judicial independence, the statutory responsibility for judicial training in England and Wales sits with the Lord Chief Justice and is exercised through the Judicial College. Briefing and training for magistrates on probation service delivery, including community payback is provided via Judicial College with materials provided by relevant teams.The probation service routinely provides the judiciary with detail on their ability to impose community payback sentences on offenders. There is regular engagement through the national judicial forum, regional and cross bench meetings and at local court level.

Legal Aid Scheme: Reform

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has to reform legal aid.

James Cartlidge: Several significant reviews of legal aid are currently underway, which are due to conclude later this year. Last year, we launched the Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review and we are currently carrying out a review of the legal aid means test. We are also considering the long-term sustainability of the civil legal aid market, although we have not launched a formal review. We plan to consult publicly on proposals to reform the criminal legal aid system and the legal aid means test in due course.

Courts: Closures

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the impact of rural court closures on crime and policing.

James Cartlidge: Impact assessments are conducted and published alongside all court closure proposals. These are then updated and considered to take into account any additional potential impacts identified through the public consultation process. These assessments include careful consideration of journey times to alternative courts, the challenges of rural access and the needs of vulnerable users.Consultations on proposed court closures invited the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including local residents and those directly involved in delivering justice, such as police forces and professional court users. All views were carefully considered before final decisions were made.The decision to close any court is not taken lightly; it only happens following full public consultation and only where sufficient capacity existed in other nearby courts to accommodate the work of the closing courts. Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to one another.

Courts: Closures

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the potential cost to the public purse arising from the closure of courts in rural communities.

James Cartlidge: All court closure proposals must meet our key estates principle of providing value for money and are subject to full public consultation. Impact assessments are conducted and published alongside all court closure proposals and any potential impacts, including those on rural communities, are carefully considered before final decisions are made.Since 2015, HMCTS has raised over £210m in sales proceeds from the disposal of underused and dilapidated buildings. This funding is being reinvested into the HMCTS £1.2bn Reform Programme to transform the justice system, including introducing 21st Century technology and online services to increase access to justice and improve efficiency.The decision to close any court is not taken lightly; it only happens following full public consultation and only where sufficient capacity existed in other nearby courts to accommodate the work of the closing courts. Courts that have closed were either underused, dilapidated or too close to one another.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: UN Climate Conference 2021

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she travelled by (a) rail, (b) road or (c) air to COP26 in Glasgow.

Penny Mordaunt: All delegates have been encouraged to consider low-carbon travel options to attend COP26. The UK will be offsetting carbon emissions associated with running the event, including the emissions associated with travel. As the IPCC report underlines, COP26 is vital this November to allow world leaders to come together and set out decisive commitments to tackle climate change.

Components: Imports

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps are being taken to (a) reduce reliance on China for the manufacture of system-critical components for UK national infrastructure projects and (b) source those components instead from members of The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Penny Mordaunt: The Integrated Review identifies ‘strengthening supply chain resilience of critical goods and raw materials” as one of nine areas for action to deliver the government’s ambitions on the Indo-Pacific tilt. Ensuring the resilience of critical global supply chains is a central part of our deeper, longer-term diplomatic engagement in the Indo-Pacific region. Membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership could help diversify our supply chains and increase our economic resilience by deepening our trading links across the region.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Turkey: Muslim Brotherhood

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when she last had discussions with her Turkish counterpart on Turkish support for the Muslim Brotherhood in (a) Europe and (b) the UK.

Wendy Morton: We enjoy a regular dialogue with Turkey, a valued partner, on a range of issues. As I noted in my reply to your written question 36566 on 28 July 2021, we continue to take concerns about the Muslim Brotherhood seriously.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Overseas Development Assistance her Department allocated to nutrition programmes in the financial years (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21; and how much she plans to allocate in 2021-22.

Wendy Morton: The UK spend on basic nutrition programmes was £117 million in 2018, £130 million in 2019, and £98 million in 2020. In addition, the UK also invests in nutrition-sensitive interventions, which address the underlying causes of malnutrition. As these cut across a range of sectoral activities, spend on them cannot be identified in the same way.Information about our nutrition spend in 2021 and 2022 will be publicly available through Statistics for International Development (SIDS) in due course. We will continue to publish our spend information by project on DevTracker as always (updated monthly).

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: UN Climate Conference 2021

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she travelled by (a) rail, (b) road or (c) air to COP26 in Glasgow.

Vicky Ford: All delegates have been encouraged to consider low-carbon travel options to attend COP26. The Foreign Secretary flew to Glasgow to attend COP26 due to the cancellation of her train; she then travelled back by train from the event.The UK will be offsetting carbon emissions associated with running the event, including the emissions associated with travel. As the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report underlines, COP26 is vital this November to allow world leaders to come together and set out decisive commitments to tackle climate change.

Palestinians: Third Sector

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the military order issued by the Israeli Defense Ministry on 19 October 2021 declaring six Palestinian civil society organizations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory to be terrorist organisations, if she will reiterate the Government's support for (a) Palestinian human rights defenders and (b) humanitarian and development organisations operating in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories; if she will provide support to those six civil society organisations; and if she will make a statement.

James Cleverly: The UK is aware of the decision by the Israeli authorities to designate six Palestinian Civil Society Organisations. We are in contact with the Government of Israel to understand the basis of the designations. We have made clear that human rights and civil society organisations have a vital role to play in both Israel and the OPTs, including those critical of Israel's conduct of the Palestinian Territories.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has raised the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe with her Iranian counterpart since her appointment.

James Cleverly: Iran's decision to proceed with the baseless charges against Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is an appalling continuation of the cruel ordeal she is going through. We are doing all we can to help Nazanin get home to her young daughter and family and the Foreign Secretary will continue to press Iran on this point, most recently discussing it with Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian 22 September and 8 November. Our Ambassador in Tehran continues to regularly raise our detainees with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Military Alliances

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of joining Australia, India, Japan and the United States in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.

Amanda Milling: As the UK continues to deliver our tilt to the Indo-Pacific, we are building and strengthening partnerships bilaterally, multilaterally and in minilateral groupings across the region. The Indo-Pacific Quad is increasingly important to four of the UK's closest partners in the region (Australia, India, Japan and the US). The UK welcomes the outcomes of the two leaders' level Quad summits in March and September 2021 which echo many of the UK's priorities, including climate change, COVID-19 response and emerging technology and we are looking at options for closer practical cooperation with Quad members in these areas, supplementing our important bilateral engagement with each of these key partners.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has plans to allocate Overseas Development Assistance to nutrition at the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021.

Wendy Morton: The Government is actively considering its approach to the Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit following the conclusion of the Spending Review. We will set this out as early as possible as part of the business planning process.The FCDO is continuing to work closely with the Government of Japan to make sure that the 2021 Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit supports meaningful action by governments, donors, businesses, the UN, and civil society.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the value for money of nutrition programmes in the Overseas Development Assistance budget allocation.

Wendy Morton: The FCDO undertakes reviews of all its programmes on an annual basis, which include a close look at value for money. These are published on DevTracker, and include consideration of the programme's value for money. We also invest in evaluating our programmes to enable us to learn what works, and to adapt our approaches accordingly.Investments in optimum nutrition, particularly those focused on the critical first 1000 days of life, are some of the best value-for-money development actions. For every pound spent by donors on basic nutrition programmes, there is a £16 return to the local economy.

Developing Countries: Malnutrition

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of children under the age of 5 in low income countries who suffer from malnutrition in 2021 compared to (a)2020, (b) 2019 and (c) 2018.

Wendy Morton: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world saw moderate progress in the reduction of malnutrition globally. However, even in 2019, 144 million children under 5 years had stunted growth due to poor nutrition, and 47 million faced life-threatening wasting. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on economies, and on food and health systems, this improving trend has been reversed. Research estimates there will be an additional 9.3 million wasted, and 2.6 million stunted children from 2020 to 2022 compared to projections without COVID-19. (https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-123716/v1).

Mali: Islamic State

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Government is providing support to the government of Mali to help tackle the threat of the Islamic State group.

Vicky Ford: The UK is concerned about the security situation in Mali, with violence continuing to spread towards the southern regions. Intercommunal conflict and activity by violent extremist organisations are responsible for civilian casualties, as well as driving displacement, increasing food insecurity, and leading to the widespread closure of schools. Through our deployment to the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali (MINUSMA), our deployment of helicopters to the French counter-terrorism operation Barkhane, and our programmatic support for stabilisation and conflict resolution, the UK is committed to building peace and stability in the Sahel. We also provide humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable in the region, including to those affected by conflict. In meetings at the UN Security Council and with the transitional authorities in Mali, the UK has called for elections and a return to constitutional rule in line with the conditions set out by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Zimbabwe: UN Climate Conference 2021

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with the President of Zimbabwe at COP26.

Vicky Ford: The Foreign Secretary did not meet with President Mnangagwa during the COP26 World Leaders Summit. However, I met with President Mnangagwa on 1 November. During our discussion I raised the UK's bilateral relationship with Zimbabwe and emphasised HMG's desire to see Zimbabwe succeed. I also raised our concerns regarding human rights, the shrinking of democratic space and the importance of Zimbabwe demonstrating a positive trajectory ahead of the 2023 elections. I also took the opportunity to highlight the targeted nature of UK sanctions on Zimbabwe, outlining that they do not affect the economy or the people of Zimbabwe. I also welcomed Zimbabwe's recently announced Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) and their signature to the Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Fines

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many fines have been imposed on his Department by HM Treasury (a) above £300,000 and (b) below the accounts reporting threshold of £300,000 since 2010.

Jeremy Quin: During the period stated, two fines have been imposed upon the Department by HM Treasury. These were both over the £300,000 reportable threshold and are therefore included in the relevant Annual Report and Accounts, the details of which have already been provided in the answer I gave to the right hon. Member on 9 November 2021 to Question 68119 . Ministry of Defence: Fines (docx, 16.7KB)

Ministry of Defence: Buildings

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2021 to Question 65371, if he will publish each of the fire risk assessments for the 27 high rise buildings with combustible components in the external walls.

Jeremy Quin: All 27 buildings have a current Fire Risk Assessment in place and remain legally compliant for continued occupation. However, we will not publish the individual fire risk assessments as to do so would compromise the security of MOD infrastructure and personnel

Ministry of Defence: High Rise Flats

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the armed forces personnel housed in the 27 high rise buildings with flammable cladding have been informed of the increased fire safety risk.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 November 2021 to Question 65371, what information has been given to the residents of each of the 27 high rise buildings with combustible components in the external walls about the fire safety of their block.

Jeremy Quin: The high rise buildings across the Defence estate with external wall systems that do not conform to updated Government guidance have all been subjected to annually reviewed and assured Fire Risk Assessments. Personnel who occupy the buildings have been kept informed through briefings, instructions and/or the posting of the Fire Risk Assessments in the affected blocks.

Ministry of Defence: High Rise Flats

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what additional safety measures have been put in place in the 27 high rise armed forces accommodation buildings in response to the presence of flammable cladding.

Jeremy Quin: All high rise buildings currently occupied on the Defence estate which have been identified as having combustible external wall systems, have a current Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) in place and remain legally compliant for continued occupation. The requirements of each FRA varies between buildings but they would include requirements such as regular testing of the automatic fire detection and alarm system, emergency lighting, regular inspection by barrack inspection teams and Fire Risk specialists a simultaneous evacuation strategy and regular fire drills.

Defence Safety and Environment Committee

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2021 to Question 62586 on Ministry of Defence: Staff, if he will list the (a) names of the people on the Defence Safety and Environment Committee and (b) dates on which that committee has met since January 2021.

Jeremy Quin: The members of the Defence Safety and Environment Committee (DSEC) are: David Williams (Permanent Secretary)Laurence Lee (2nd Permanent Secretary)Admiral Sir Tim Fraser (Vice Chief of the Defence Staff)Air Marshal Richard Knighton (Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Capability))Admiral Sir Ben Key (First Sea Lord)General Sir Mark-Carleton Smith (Chief of the General Staff)Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston (Chief of Air the Staff)General Sir Patrick Sanders (Commander UK Strategic Command)Vanessa Nicholls (Director General Nuclear)Sir Simon Bollom (Chief Executive Defence Equipment and Support)Graham Dalton (Chief Executive Defence Infrastructure Organisation)Lt General James Swift (Chief of Defence People)Mike Baker (Chief Operating Officer)Doug Umbers (Chief Executive Defence Science and Technology Laboratory)Ian Booth (Chief Executive Submarine Delivery Agency)David King (Director Health Safety and Environmental Protection)James Clare (Director Climate Change and Sustainability)Tim Steeds (Non-Executive Director)Lt General (Retd) Richard Nugee (Non-Executive Director)The DSEC meets four times per year and has so far met on 25 March, 29 July and 7 September in 2021. It will next meet on 1 December 2021.

Defence Equipment and Support: Consultants

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much was spent by Defence Equipment and Support on consultants each year between 2010-11 and 2013-14.

Jeremy Quin: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 October 2021 to Question 59709.Previous answer 59709 (docx, 16.5KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to ensure disabled people were adequately consulted during the recent Health and Disability green paper consultation.

Chloe Smith: In the 18 months prior to the formal launch of the consultation, we ran a significant engagement programme to ensure that the views of disabled people and their representatives shaped the content of the consultation. During the Covid-19 pandemic, we continued to engage with a series of virtual events organised with national charities, and a series hosted by MPs from across the political spectrum, attended by individuals and organisations from their constituencies. The Green Paper was published on 20 July 2021 in a variety of accessible formats. These include braille copies, a British Sign Language video with an audio track and subtitles, a large print version, a full audio version available digitally and on CD and an easy read version. Throughout the consultation period itself, we held more than 40 events with disabled people, people with health conditions and their representatives, including a series of virtual events as well as face-to-face events across the UK.

Access to Work Programme

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what target timescale her Department sets for the payment of invoices submitted through Access to Work.

Chloe Smith: As part of DWP’s response to the covid-19 pandemic, we have extended the time period for customers to submit claims for payment following costs being incurred, from six months to nine months. Access to Work aim for customers to be paid within 10 working days of receipt of claims and all supporting evidence.

Social Security Benefits: Terminal Illnesses

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the number of DWP assessors (a) challenging or (b) overturning clinical judgements made by medical professionals about a claimant's terminal illness.

Chloe Smith: The DWP currently provides a balanced and compassionate approach to supporting those approaching the end of their lives. The approach is based on clinical judgement and evidence provided by a relevant clinician like GPs or Specialist Nurses. A claim made under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness is in most cases supported by evidence from the claimant’s clinician submitted in a DS1500 form. These contain information relating to diagnosis, clinical features and past or current treatment. While they have never been a requirement for a claim under the terminal illness rules, they remain the quickest and most appropriate route to gather evidence to support entitlement in these cases. Providers use healthcare professionals to provide advice to DWP decision makers about benefit entitlement. They may contact clinicians to obtain clinical information if either a claim has been made under the SRTI but no DS1500 has been provided or for clarification of information provided in the DS1500. The provider healthcare professional will review all available evidence before making a recommendation to DWP decision makers about eligibility.

State Retirement Pensions

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the reasons for her Department's delay in issuing first payments of the state pension to eligible pensioners.

Guy Opperman: We are aware that some State Pension customers have experienced delays in receiving their initial payments. This has been caused by a number of different factors, which individually would have been successfully managed by the organisation, but collectively, and with the added difficulties presented by the pandemic, created the delays that some customers have experienced. For example, we saw an unanticipated change in customer behaviour caused specifically by the economic conditions created by the pandemic. Customers who were deferring their State Pension as they continued to work began to claim in greater numbers. This change in behaviour was one factor in a higher than expected number of State Pension claims being received. We also saw much greater than anticipated take-up of a new, simpler clerical claim form which was made available via Gov.uk from May 2020. We believe the surge in this channel was driven by the temporary reduction in our State Pension telephony service offering in response to the pressures of the pandemic. Again, this caused unexpected pressure on our clerical processing teams. Following the equalisation of State Pension age, we have also seen a substantial increase in claim volumes throughout 2021. Alongside changes in customer behaviour, we have also experienced high levels of attrition as colleagues secured progression in a number of other Government departments and on promotion within DWP. There has been a delay in recruiting sufficient new staff to return staffing to the required level. This has been our priority in the last quarter we have now recruited, trained and redeployed significant additional resources to support State Pension delivery. We were also impacted by the operational challenges and staff availability during the peak of the pandemic, in common with most other delivery organisations.

State Retirement Pensions: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have experienced a delay in receiving their first state pension payment since July 2019.

Guy Opperman: This information is not collated as part of normal business and is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department.

State Retirement Pensions: Wales

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Wales have experienced a delay in receiving their first state pension payment since July 2019.

Guy Opperman: This information is not collated as part of normal business and is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent changes to Women’s State Pension Age on women in Newport West.

Guy Opperman: No assessment has been made.

State Retirement Pensions: Newport West

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the average wait a woman in Newport West who turns 66 has had before receiving the first state pension payment in each of the last 12 months.

Guy Opperman: This information is not collated as part of normal business and is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department.

State Retirement Pensions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to (a) retain the State Pension triple lock and (b) tackle increased pensioner poverty.

Guy Opperman: The Government is continuing the Triple Lock long term. The 2021 Uprating Bill is a one-year response to exceptional circumstances. The Government remains committed to implementing the Triple Lock in the usual way for 2023/24 and the remainder of the Parliament. The Government is committed to alleviating pensioner poverty. Latest figures show there are 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty, after housing costs, compared to 2009/10. Pension Credit provides invaluable financial support for the most vulnerable pensioners. We are undertaking a range of actions to raise awareness and increase take up.

Universal Credit

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the change to the universal credit taper rate on families with children who are less able to take on additional work.

David Rutley: No assessments have been made on the effect of the change to Universal Credit taper rates on families who are less able to take on additional work. Universal Credit recipients in work will soon benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, and increasing the work allowance by £500 per year means that 1.9m working households will be able to keep substantially more of what they earn. These changes represent an effective tax cut for low income working households in receipt of Universal Credit worth £2.2 billion a year in 2022-23, for the lowest paid in society, and are combined with a rise in the National Living Wage to £9.50 per hour. Many of those who are unable to increase their hours as a result of family commitments will also benefit from the increase in Work Allowance by £500 a year, and under new rules from 24th November, they can earn, in some cases, over £550 each month before their benefits begin to be withdrawn. The Department is fully committed to supporting parents moving into work and improving their earnings once employed. Eligible Universal Credit claimants can claim back up to 85 per cent of eligible childcare costs each month, up to the maximum amount of £646.35 per month for one child and £1,108.04 per month for two or more children, regardless of the number of hours they work. In Universal Credit, childcare costs can be claimed up to a month before starting a job. In cases where people need to pay for childcare upfront, prior to starting work, Work Coaches can use the Flexible Support Fund for eligible claimants, to meet these costs until their first wage is received. Budgeting advances are also available to those who are eligible and who require help with upfront costs, for example when altering hours worked or changing childcare providers.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken in the last 12 months to support those affected by (a) changes to state pension age for 1950s-born women and (b) the communication of those changes.

Guy Opperman: This Government is committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it, including when they near or reach retirement. Support is available to those who are unable to work or are on a low income but are not eligible to pensioner benefits because of their age.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps her Department has taken to mitigate the effect of state pension age changes on women born in the 1950s.

Guy Opperman: Raising State Pension age in line with life expectancy changes has been the policy of successive administrations over many years, dating back to 1993.Parliament set out in successive Pensions Acts fair transitional arrangements when it introduced the changes to State Pension age. There are no plans for further transitional provisions.Scotland has the powers under the Scotland Act 2016 to make additional discretionary payments should it wish to do so.

State Retirement Pensions

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2021 to Question 56659 on State Retirement Pensions, what management information her Department holds on the timeliness of the payment of new State Pension claims; and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: Yes. As of 4 November, there were 3,220 claims where we awaited further information from the customer before we can finalise their claim.

State Retirement Pensions: Administrative Delays

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support people who have experienced delays in processing new State Pension claims.

Guy Opperman: We provide support to our customers by communicating at the following stages to keep them fully informed during the claim process: - when their State Pension claim is received – this includes online claims via Get Your StatePensioninviting the customer to contact us if we need some additional informationwe are working on their claim and they do not need to contact uswe have processed their claim and we will send a letter to confirm payment

State Retirement Pensions

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken is to process new state pension claims.

Guy Opperman: For the period August 2020 to August 2021, the average processing time for complex claims was 39 days. Supporting Information  To Note: This is the latest data available. We introduced the Get Your State Pension online system in 2018. Around 70-80% of State Pension claims are made via Get Your State Pension and of those 50-60% are cleared the same day, as they can be automatically awarded and put into payment to the customer without any agent intervention. Only the most complex cases are now considered when calculating the average clearance time for a State Pension claim, which means the ‘average’ that we are able to provide is heavily inflated.

Supported Housing: Regulation

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of strengthening the regulation of exempt accommodation.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a fit and proper person test for providers of exempt accommodation.

David Rutley: The supported housing sector provides essential accommodation and support for the most vulnerable members of society to live as independently as possible in their community. We are working closely with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the oversight of supported housing to ensure it is good quality and provides the right support for residents as well as value for money for taxpayers. As part of this work, all available options will be considered. Additionally, following extensive engagement with stakeholders, we are reviewing the guidance for specified accommodation claims to improve consistency in decision-making for exempt accommodation.

Poverty: Children

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of child poverty in Weaver Vale constituency; and what steps the Government is taking to reduce child poverty.

David Rutley: In 2019/20, the latest year for which data is available, 12% of children in Weaver Vale were in absolute low-income on a before housing costs basis, the same proportion as in 2014/15.Further information on the number and proportion of children who are in low income families in Weaver Vale, covering the six years, 2014/15 to 2019/20, can be found at: Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Given clear evidence that parental employment, particularly where it is full-time, substantially reduces the risks of child poverty, we are focusing on supporting employment. With record vacancies in the economy, there are opportunities available across the UK and our multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, which has recently been expanded by £500 million, is helping people to access them. Universal Credit recipients in work will soon benefit from a reduction in the Universal Credit taper rate from 63% to 55%, while eligible in-work claimants will also benefit from changes to the Work Allowance. These measures represent, for the lowest paid in society, an effective tax cut of around £2.2 Billion in 2022-23, and will benefit almost two million of the lowest paid workers by £1000 a year on average. We recognise that some people may require extra support over the winter as we enter the final stages of recovery, which is why vulnerable households across the country will now be able to access a new £500 million support fund to help them with essentials. The Household Support Fund will provide £421 million to help vulnerable people in England with the cost of food, utilities and wider essentials. The Barnett Formula will apply in the usual way, with the devolved administrations receiving almost £80 million (£41m for the Scottish Government, £25m for the Welsh Government and £14m for the NI Executive), for a total of £500 million.This is on top of the £111 billion we are spending this year on support for people of working age.

State Retirement Pensions

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department expects to meet service delivery targets with regards to the processing of new claims to state pension by the end of October 2021.

Guy Opperman: Yes. As of 4 November, there were 3,220 claims where we awaited further information from the customer before we can finalise their claim.

State Retirement Pensions

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the delays in receipt of the first payment of state pension experienced by some people retiring this year have now been ended, and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: Yes. This matter was addressed during a Work and Pension Select Committee evidence session on 8 November.

Department for Work and Pensions: Ivory

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of ivory items owned by or collated by her Department.

Guy Opperman: We have not made any estimates of the number of ivory items owned by or collated in this Department or institutions owned or managed by the Government.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made on the effectiveness of the personal independence payment assessment process' (a) timescale from application submission to the result and (b) approach to applicants with disabilities

Chloe Smith: We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support in a timely manner and managing customer journey times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants is a priority for the Department. We always aim to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all available evidence.Processing times can vary reflecting factors including customer demand, operational resource and timescales for different parts of the process. Clearance times for new PIP claims in July 2021 (most recent data available) are similar to those pre-pandemic. PIP focuses support on those experiencing the greatest barriers to living independently; 34% of those on PIP receive the highest level of support, compared to 15% of its predecessor benefit’s (DLA’s) working-age claimants. At the core of PIP’s design is the principle that awards of the benefit should be made according to a claimant’s overall level of need, regardless of whether claimants have a physical or non-physical condition. Entitlement to PIP is therefore assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Shaping future support: the health and disability green paper, published on 20 July 2021, if she will take steps to introduce audio recording of disability benefit assessments by default with an option for applicants to opt out.

Chloe Smith: Currently claimants can request an audio recording in advance of their benefit assessment. The consultation period for the Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper ended on 11 October 2021. We are currently considering responses, including in relation to the audio recording of assessments. We intend to publish a White Paper in mid-2022.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Waste: Carbon Emissions

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what are the projected emissions resulting from waste over the period of the 4th, 5th and 6th carbon budget periods.

Philip Dunne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what are the projected emissions resulting from waste over the period of the 4th, 5th and 6th budget periods.

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the projected emissions resulting from waste are over the (a) fourth, (b) fifth and (c) sixth carbon budget periods.

Jo Churchill: The Government's Net Zero Strategy sets the UK on the path to deliver on its commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The Net Zero Strategy sets out Government's vision for transitioning to a net zero economy and covers a wide range of actions across different sectors. Sectoral emissions for Waste and F-gases over forthcoming carbon budget periods are set out in Table 8 of the technical annex to the net zero strategy. These are: Carbon Budget (CB) 4 24-27 MtCO2e; Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) 17-20 MtCO2e and CB6 12-15 MtCO2e. n.b. NDC is the midpoint of CB5

Climate Change: Technology

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support new technologies to advance climate adaptation, including in developing countries.

Jo Churchill: The Government supports research in a range of technologies, spanning many sectors, which will improve our resilience to climate change. For example, in Defra we have awarded £5.5 million between 2018 and 2023 towards Genetic Improvement Networks research projects, which aim to enhance the productivity, sustainability and resilience of the main UK crops. We are also supporting the UK Research and Innovation Transforming Food Production Initiative, through which a public investment of £90 million will be made over four years to support the rapid development and deployment of advanced precision agricultural solutions. The UK Climate Resilience Programme also supports adaptive endeavours on both national and regional scales, through action-oriented research and by working directly with local communities. The UK is a world leader in climate science and the Government has developed extensive research and innovation capabilities over the past few decades to ensure policies are built upon a robust, ever-growing evidence base. Research excellence from world-class UK institutions is complemented by a proven track record of working collaboratively across the globe to build adaptive capacity and enhance resilience, by harnessing the power of research, evidence translation and community engagement. For example, the UK-funded Future Climate for Africa research programme, known as FCFA, has delivered major advances in the scientific understanding of African climate variability and change, improving continent-wide prediction of the impacts of climate change. Crucially, the FCFA also tackles the challenge of how to bring this new science into use to reduce the risks faced by governments, businesses, and communities on the frontline. Supporting novel, collaborative approaches between researchers and decision-makers in country has helped to build the climate resilience of cities across southern Africa, improved flood risk management in West Africa, and improved water security in East Africa. More broadly, the Government has doubled its international climate finance of £11.6 billion between 2021/22 and 2025/26, with an extra £1 billion in 2025 if the economy grows as forecast, supporting developing nations to access clean technology and build green infrastructure. For example, the Clean Energy Innovation Facility (CEIF) is a £50 million programme which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of clean energy technologies in developing countries, supporting clean growth and a resilient recovery from COVID-19.

Dangerous Dogs

Apsana Begum: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to issue national guidance to all Police forces on following the Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs initiative.

Jo Churchill: The Government takes the issue of dog attacks extremely seriously and we are determined to crack down on irresponsible dog ownership. The Government supports local preventative approaches to encourage responsible dog ownership of all breeds of dog, such as the Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs (LEAD) initiative. The Middlesex University report on responsible dog ownership, which will be published shortly, identified the LEAD initiative as a model of preventative best practice for low level dog control issues. Defra liaises regularly with the police on dog control issues, and is giving careful consideration to the report and its recommendations, which will provide the basis for potential further reform in this area.

Barbecues

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of disposable barbeques on the environment.

Jo Churchill: Defra has made no specific assessment of the environmental impact of disposable barbecues. The Government is working with Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Park Authorities, and across Government departments to help inform people about the countryside including an updated Countryside Code, which advises against barbecues or fires.

Zoos: Animal Welfare

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to open the consultation for the standards of modern zoo practice; and how long that consultation will be open for.

Jo Churchill: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my hon. Friend the Member for Banbury on 14 July 2021, PQ UIN 28202. The targeted consultation will be open for twelve weeks.

Animal Welfare: Tourism

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government’s policy paper, Action Plan for Animal Welfare, published 12 May 2021, what discussions he has had with the (a) Scottish Government, (b) Welsh Government and (c) Northern Ireland Executive on bringing forward UK-wide legislative proposals to ban the advertising and offering for sale of specific, unacceptable animal practices in tourism abroad; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: The Government takes the welfare of all animals seriously and is committed to raising standards of animal welfare both at home and abroad. The Government has committed to legislation to ban the advertising and offering for sale of specific, unacceptable animal practices in tourism abroad. We have been discussing these proposals with the devolved administrations and will continue to do so.

Horticulture: Harlow

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to support food production nurseries in Harlow.

Victoria Prentis: Our future agriculture policy will help farmers in Harlow to continue to produce food to high environmental and animal welfare standards. The Government's Agricultural Transition Plan sets out how we will maintain the same level of investment for farmers in England, which is £2.4 billion a year across this parliament. We will reinvest money saved by reducing Direct Payments into improved and new environment schemes, as well as schemes which will help farmers get their businesses ready for the transition. These will include grants to invest in productivity measures, support to new entrants, supporting farmer-led innovation and improving farm resilience. For example, we have launched a £1 million grant funding project to provide resilience support to farmers and land managers in England to help them prepare for the Agricultural Transition period that will take place from 2021-2027. The transition period will also give farmers time to adapt and prepare for our new schemes. Some farmers might want help to work out how best to get their businesses ready for the agricultural transition. We are offering a range of interventions, including collaborative projects over three to four years, where farming and agri-food businesses work with scientists and researchers to carry out more fundamental research and development focused on high-priority strategic challenges – such as achieving Net Zero – with the potential to transform agricultural productivity in the long term. In addition, we are continuing to work with farming organisations as we develop the Farming Investment Fund. This will incentivise and support the purchase of equipment, technology and infrastructure to support environmentally-sustainable farming and land management.

Fisheries: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive on the introduction of a funding scheme to ensure the use of energy-efficient machinery in the fishing industry.

Victoria Prentis: There is regular contact between Defra ministers and their devolved administration counterparts, including in the Northern Ireland Executive, at the Inter-Ministerial Group. The Government is providing £57.8 million for the devolved administrations to support fisheries over the Spending Review 2021 period - of which £9.3 million has been secured for Northern Ireland. This money is to fund data collection, to deliver control and enforcement activities and to enable each of the fishing administrations to deliver their own domestic funding schemes. It is for the NI Executive to decide how it designs its domestic scheme, which could include investment into energy-efficient machinery in parts of the fishing industry. The Fisheries Act 2020 provides the NI Executive with the power to establish schemes of financial assistance in relation to commercial fishing and aquaculture in Northern Ireland. In addition to this, there is the £100 million UK Seafood Fund to be invested into science and innovation, infrastructure, and skills and training. The Infrastructure pillar will include criteria around reducing carbon emissions in the industry and encouraging the use of renewable energy sources. More details on the Infrastructure pillar will be announced soon. The Fund is available to applicants throughout the UK, including Northern Ireland.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Quarantine

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of his Department's ministers have been exempted from quarantine in a hotel after returning to the UK from a covid-19 red list country to which they have travelled for the purposes of conducting official business.

Victoria Prentis: Details of Ministers’ overseas travel are published quarterly on GOV.UK, and all travel is arranged in line with official regulations. Ministers are able to claim an exemption from travel restrictions under the ‘Crown Servants or government contractors exemption’. The full text of this exemption can be found under the Government guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): jobs that qualify for travel exemptions, available on GOV.UK.

Tree Planting

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to help ensure the (a) progress and (b) acceleration of the tree planting strategy after the conclusion of COP26.

Rebecca Pow: Trees are at the forefront of the Government’s plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, to help to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and to create thousands of green jobs while better connecting people with nature as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to increasing tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this parliament. We published our ambitious England Trees Action Plan on 18 May which sets out our plans to at least treble tree planting rates in England by the end of the Parliament in support of this, using more than £500 million from the Nature for Climate Fund. In the recently published Net Zero Strategy, we announced we will boost the Nature for Climate Fund with a further £124 million of new money, ensuring total spend of more than £750 million by 2025 on peat restoration, woodland creation and management - above and beyond what was promised in the manifesto. Moving forwards, we are also exploring whether a longer-term statutory target for woodland creation in England would be appropriate, including possible interactions with other potential environmental targets being considered.

Forests

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to stop deforestation.

Rebecca Pow: The UK continues to take a leading role working with global partners to halt and reverse deforestation. At COP26, the UK led the way on securing agreement from 128 world leaders to work together to halt and reverse forest loss by 2030 under the Glasgow Leader's Declaration on Forests and Land Use. Signatory countries account for almost 90% of the world’s forests, including first-time commitments from Brazil and China. Unlocking finance is a crucial element in delivering shared global objectives for preventing deforestation. This is why Defra, along with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has secured strong financial commitments at COP26 from partner states and philanthropic organisations in the fight against deforestation. This total includes a commitment of $12 billion from 12 countries for a new Global Forest Finance Pledge for the protection, restoration and sustainable management of forests; $7.2 billion of private sector funding was mobilised for protecting forests and nature and CEOs from more than 30 financial institutions representing $8.7 trillion of global assets committed to eliminate investment in activities linked to agricultural commodity-driven deforestation. Defra supports several programmes which protect and restore diverse types of forests. This includes the 'Blue Forests' project in Madagascar and Indonesia, which has protected and restored over 180,000 hectares of mangrove forests and avoided 487 hectares of deforestation to date; and an investment of over £62 million to promote sustainable agriculture in Brazil, through low carbon technology, agroforestry and recovery of degraded lands with forests or pastures. Defra and BEIS established the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade Dialogue at COP26, where we are working with other producer and consumer governments to develop a joint approach to protect forests and other ecosystems while promoting sustainable development and trade. The UK Government has doubled its international climate finance to £11.6 billion for the period from 2021-26, of which at least £3 billion will be spent on nature and nature-based solutions, including protecting and restoring forests. Defra has introduced due diligence legislation through the Environment Act to tackle illegal deforestation in UK supply chains. This law will help us ensure there is no place on our supermarket shelves for commodities that have been grown on land that is illegally owned or used, and to support other countries to strengthen and enforce their forest protection measures. To maintain pace, we plan to launch a consultation to further inform the design of the law in late 2021. This is one part of a wider package of measures to improve the sustainability of our supply chains and will contribute to global efforts to protect forests and other ecosystems.

Tree Planting

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities are (a) set and (b) reach tree planting targets.

Rebecca Pow: We recognise the importance of local authorities (LAs) in achieving the Government's tree planting targets and delivering the vision set out in the England Trees Action Plan (ETAP).LAs are increasingly setting their own tree planting targets to support their own net zero ambitions. A recent Forestry Commission study of 82 top tier LAs revealed that 70% (57 LAs) have included 'planting trees and woodlands' as part of their net zero strategies.Defra supports LAs' tree planting activity through several of the Nature for Climate Fund Grant schemes, such as the England Woodland Creation Offer, the Local Authorities Treescape Fund and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF). Whilst the latest round of applications for UTCF closed in July, over the next two years this fund will provide up to £6 million for planting around 44,000 large trees in towns and cities, plus necessary maintenance payments. We are also supporting the creation of two new Woodland Creation Partnerships in Cornwall and Northumberland, and two new Community Forests in Plymouth and South Devon and in the North East, working closely with the relevant LAs in those areasTo further support LAs that may have less capacity and capability to develop their own targets, we have committed in the ETAP to produce guidance for LAs to develop their own local tree and woodland strategies.Finally, LAs are also expected to play a central part in the delivery of the new Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs), a new system of spatial strategies for nature, to be delivered through the Environment Bill, which will cover the whole of England. We anticipate that LNRSs will become a key mechanism through which appropriate land for woodland creation is identified at a local level which in turn will support the delivery of national tree planting targets.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Ivory

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of ivory items owned by or collated by his Department.

Rebecca Pow: We have not made any estimates of the number of ivory items owned by, or collated in this Department, or institutions owned or managed by the Government.

Sewers: Infrastructure

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to help ensure that sewerage and drainage infrastructure has capacity to manage waste sewage and drainage water.

Rebecca Pow: Through the Environment Act, the Government will make statutory the requirement for sewerage undertakers to develop and publish a drainage and sewerage management plan (DWMP) to fully assess their network capacity, short- and long-term infrastructure needs and impact of their activities on the environment. This Act also contains a power of direction for the Government to direct water companies in relation to DWMP actions if they are not ambitious enough to meet our expectations and we will not hesitate to use this power if needed.Earlier this year the Government consulted on a set of strategic priorities for the water industry, which included steps to "significantly reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows". The water industry is committed to invest £3.1 billion on improvements between 2020 and 2025 to reduce reliance on storm overflows, including projects to improve capacity as part of a £51bn investment programme across the period, including £7bn of investment in the environment. Since privatisation, water companies in England have delivered £160bn of investment, including £30 billion invested in the environment. This is equivalent to around £5 billion of investment annually and has delivered a range of benefits to customers and the environment.We have also started a review of the case for implementing Schedule 3 to the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 in England. Schedule 3 was designed to set ministerial standards for the construction of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) on new developments. This would require SuDS to be built and make any surface water drainage connections to foul sewer conditional on the planning approval of the SuDS proposed. SuDS can help reduce the pressure on the sewage system by filtering out more surface water that does not necessarily need treatment and the review is due to complete by autumn 2022.

Marine Environment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to protect the marine environment around the UK.

Rebecca Pow: Our statutory UK Marine Strategy sets out a vision for UK waters to achieve clean, safe, healthy biologically diverse and productive seas, which are used sustainably. The Strategy provides a legal framework, agreed with the devolved administrations, for assessing and monitoring the status of our seas and to put in place the measures needed to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES). The Strategy covers marine biodiversity, non-indigenous species, commercial fishing, nutrient pollution, contaminants, underwater noise and marine litter. To protect UK seas effectively, we need to work with other countries. The UK plays a leading role in OSPAR (the regional sea convention for the North East Atlantic). We coordinate our efforts with our neighbours to ensure the best protection for our seas whilst maintaining their sustainable use. Domestically, we have designated a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and are focussed on making sure they are properly protected. In English waters there are 178 sites protecting 40% of our seas. 98 sites in English inshore waters now have management measures in place to protect sensitive features from bottom towed fishing gears. All existing MPAs in English offshore waters will be protected from fishing activities which could prevent them achieving their conservation objectives through a three-year byelaw programme being undertaken by the Marine Management Organisation. The Government has also launched plans to increase protections for England's waters through a pilot scheme to designate marine sites in England as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). HPMAs will take a 'whole site approach', conserving all species and habitats within their boundary to maximise protection of marine habitats and species. The purpose of HPMAs is biodiversity recovery and HPMAs have a critical role in ocean recovery and will contribute to the Government’s vision for ‘clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse ocean and seas’.

Home Office

Muslim Brotherhood

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will commission a new review of the Muslim Brotherhood to update the 2015 review; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Internet: Safety

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of ending online anonymity on abuse against (a) hon. Members and (b) other public figures.

Damian Hinds: We are considering this issue as part of our work with DCMS on the Online Safety Bill, which is currently going through pre-legislative scrutiny.Harmful online abuse is unacceptable, and the online safety framework will require companies to take robust action to improve the safety of their users. The Bill will introduce a Duty of Care which will apply to all online services that allow user generated content. Companies will need to have systems and processes in place to keep their users safe, and Ofcom will have tough enforcement powers to use against those which do not comply.We need to take a balanced approach given that anonymity can be important for a range of cases – such as pro-democracy movements. Pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft Online Safety Bill provides an opportunity to hear a range of views on the topic.

Licensed Premises: Proof of Identity

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to promote awareness among, and increase the number of, licensed premises that accept the PASS CitizenCard as a suitable form of identification when alternatives such as provisional driving licence cannot be presented.

Kit Malthouse: The Government and Police fully support the Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) and encourages all shops and licensed premises to accept PASS accredited cards as proof of age.Home Office officials continue to work closely with the PASS Board and Age Verification Providers Association in the development of technical standards for digital proof of age PASS accredited cards that would expand their use through technology such as smart phones.

West Mercia Police: Recruitment

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many police officers West Mercia Police have recruited since 2018-19.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of joiners to the police service in England and Wales on an annual basis in the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, available here: Police workforce England and Wales statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)These data show that West Mercia Police recruited a total of 622 full-time equivalent police officers between the financial years ending 31 March 2019 and 2021, excluding transfers.While the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin remains the key measure of the size of the police workforce, as part of the Police Officer Uplift Programme, the Home Office also publishes a quarterly update on the number of officers (headcount) in England and Wales, including the number of new recruits. Data are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-officer-uplift-statisticsAs at 30 September 2021 there were 2,329 officers in West Mercia Police. West Mercia Police has recruited 155 additional officers (headcount) out of an allocated total of 184 additional officers for years one and two of the uplift combined. Allocations for year 3 and the remaining 8,000 officers towards the 20,000 are yet to be confirmed.

Sexual Harassment

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 70 of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, published in July 2021, what steps her Department is taking to identify gaps in existing legislation on public sexual harassment; and if she will set out the terms of reference for conducting such a review.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 70 of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, published in July 2021, what her Department's timeframe is for reviewing where there may be gaps in existing legislation on public sexual harassment.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to page 70 of the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, published in July 2021, whether she plans to consult (a) victims of and (b) experts on public sexual harassment when reviewing where there may be gaps in existing legislation on public sexual harassment.

Rachel Maclean: Sexual harassment in public places is an appalling practice, which the Government is absolutely committed to tackling. It is not acceptable that so many women and girls do not feel safe on our streets as a result of this behaviour.As set out in the Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy, the Government is looking carefully at where there may be gaps in existing law and how a specific offence for public sexual harassment could address those. This is a complex area, and it is important that we take the time to ensure that any potential legislation is proportionate and reasonably defined. We will publish updates on this work in due course.The Tackling VAWG Strategy also sets out the non-legislative work which the Government is taking in this area. A national communications campaign will challenge this type of behaviour, and ensure victims know how and where to report it. We will ensure police and prosecutors are confident about how to respond to public sexual harassment, and as such the College of Policing will provide new guidance for police officers and the Crown Prosecution Service will update its legal guidance on public order offences to add specific information on public sexual harassment. And to prevent this behaviour from happening in the first place, we will deepen our understanding of who commits these crimes, why they do so, and how it may escalate, for example through our new funding for what works to tackle violence against women and girls.

Alcoholic Drinks: Drugs

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the rate of (a) convictions and (b) arrests following allegations of drug spiking.

Rachel Maclean: The recent reports of spiking of drinks and through injections are of course concerning. Data held by the Home Office on arrests by police in England and Wales are collected at offence group level only (such as ‘drug offences’ and ‘sexual offences’). Further details on the offence are not collected, so it is not possible with the data available to the Home Office to determine the rate of arrests following allegations of drug spiking.Information on the number of convictions recorded for such offences is held by the Ministry of Justice.This is an ongoing matter which the police are investigating, and the Home Secretary has asked police forces to provide an update.The Government is supporting the rollout of pilot initiatives to improve the safety of women in public spaces at night, including in the night-time economy. We have committed to delivering a £5 million ‘Safety of Women at Night’ fund, in addition to the £25 million Safer Streets Fund Round 3. These funds will support projects that target potential perpetrators, seek to protect potential victims, or deliver programmes intended to address offending behaviour.

Sexual Offences: Drugs

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of police reports filed by people alleging they have been spiked through injection (a) in (i) 2021, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2019 and (iv) 2018 and (b) in (A) the UK, (B) the South East, (C) London and (D) Slough.

Rachel Maclean: The recent reports of spiking of drinks and through injections are of course concerning. Data on police recorded crime held by the Home Office are at offence level, and it is not possible with the data available to provide a full picture on the scale of such attacks or to determine whether or not there has been an increase.This is an ongoing matter which the police are investigating and the Home Secretary has asked police forces to provide an update.

Alcoholic Drinks: Drugs

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there has been an increase in (a) reports of spiking and (b) convictions for spiking since 2019.

Rachel Maclean: The recent reports of spiking of drinks and through injections are of course concerning. Data on police recorded crime held by the Home Office are at offence level, and it is not possible with the data available to provide a full picture on the scale of such attacks or to determine whether or not there has been an increase.This is an ongoing matter which the police are investigating and the Home Secretary has asked police forces to provide an update.

Driving Licences: Foreign Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on ensuring that no foreign national resident in the UK is prevented from travelling overseas because their passports is being held by DVLA outside the agreed timescale for processing provisional driving licence applications.

Kevin Foster: The DVLA recognises the importance to applicants of having possession of their identity documents for a range of reasons, including overseas travel.The DVLA has introduced additional online services, recruited additional staff, and secured extra office space to help reduce waiting times. DVLA staff are working as quickly as possible to return people’s documentation to them when processing a driving licence application.

Visas: Married People

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has  plans to change the minimum income and adequate maintenance requirement for spouse visas to reflect the impact the covid-19 outbreak has had on income and employment.

Kevin Foster: The Minimum Income Requirement is set at the level which prevents burdens on the taxpayer and promotes integration. We remain committed to those aims.We recognised the economic impacts of COVID-19 on earnings and made relevant adjustments in order to support those affected between 1 March 2020 and 31 October 2021.We are carefully considering the impacts of COVID-19 on meeting the Minimum Income Requirement for spouse/partner visa applicants. We are also considering the exceptional circumstances related to the pandemic we will take into account in future for applications made under the family Immigration Rules. We will set out our future policy in updated guidance in due course.

Immigration Controls: Coronavirus

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy to accept the long-term loss of income and unemployment as a result of the covid-19 outbreak as an exceptional circumstance in the event that people applying for family migration are unable to meet the minimum income and adequate maintenance requirement after 31 of October 2021.

Kevin Foster: The Minimum Income Requirement is set at the level which prevents burdens on the taxpayer and promotes integration. We remain committed to those aims.We recognised the economic impacts of COVID-19 on earnings and made relevant adjustments in order to support those affected between 1 March 2020 and 31 October 2021.We are carefully considering the impacts of COVID-19 on meeting the Minimum Income Requirement for spouse/partner visa applicants. We are also considering the exceptional circumstances related to the pandemic we will take into account in future for applications made under the family Immigration Rules. We will set out our future policy in updated guidance in due course.

Immigration Controls: Coronavirus

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is her policy that long-term loss of income and unemployment due to the covid-19 pandemic will be considered as exceptional circumstances if the minimum income and adequate maintenance requirement is not met after the 31 October 2021.

Kevin Foster: The Minimum Income Requirement is set at the level which prevents burdens on the taxpayer and promotes integration. We remain committed to those aims.We recognised the economic impacts of COVID-19 on earnings and made relevant adjustments in order to support those affected between 1 March 2020 and 31 October 2021.We are carefully considering the impacts of COVID-19 on meeting the Minimum Income Requirement for spouse/partner visa applicants. We are also considering the exceptional circumstances related to the pandemic we will take into account in future for applications made under the family Immigration Rules. We will set out our future policy in updated guidance in due course.

Visas: Married People

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to extend the changes made to the minimum income and adequate maintenance requirement for a spouse visa beyond 31 October 2021.

Kevin Foster: The Minimum Income Requirement is set at the level which prevents burdens on the taxpayer and promotes integration. We remain committed to those aims.We recognised the economic impacts of COVID-19 on earnings and made relevant adjustments in order to support those affected between 1 March 2020 and 31 October 2021.We are carefully considering the impacts of COVID-19 on meeting the Minimum Income Requirement for spouse/partner visa applicants. We are also considering the exceptional circumstances related to the pandemic we will take into account in future for applications made under the family Immigration Rules. We will set out our future policy in updated guidance in due course.

Immigration Controls: Coronavirus

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether long-term loss of income and unemployment as a result of the covid-19 outbreak will be considered as exceptional circumstances, in the event that the minimum income and adequate maintenance requirement is not met after 31 October 2021.

Kevin Foster: The Minimum Income Requirement is set at the level which prevents burdens on the taxpayer and promotes integration. We remain committed to those aims.We recognised the economic impacts of COVID-19 on earnings and made relevant adjustments in order to support those affected between 1 March 2020 and 31 October 2021.We are carefully considering the impacts of COVID-19 on meeting the Minimum Income Requirement for spouse/partner visa applicants. We are also considering the exceptional circumstances related to the pandemic we will take into account in future for applications made under the family Immigration Rules. We will set out our future policy in updated guidance in due course.

Asylum: Standards

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to tackle the backlog of (a) asylum and (b) other applications received by her Department.

Kevin Foster: Visa demand has significantly increased as travel restrictions relating to the pandemic have eased both in the UK and across the globe.To tackle this the Home Office are pursuing a wide range of programmes to transform systems and processes across a number of immigration routes, alongside a number of business improvement initiatives to speed up decision making, reduce the time people spend in the system and reduce the numbers who are awaiting an interview were required or a decision., In response to the raising number of asylum claims and delays in processing them, we are taking forward our New Plan for Immigration which aims to transform our broken asylum system. This includes almost double the number of decision makers r to c.1,000, plus providing improved training and career progression opportunities to aid retention of staff. This investment in our people will speed up processing times and increase the throughput of asylum decisions.We are continuing to develop existing and new technology to help build on recent improvements such as digital interviewing and move away from a paper-based system. We are streamlining and digitalising the case working process to enable more effective workflow, appointment booking and decision-making.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether the new UK Shared Prosperity Fund total funding will include the amount the UK Government previously match funded from EU receipts.

Neil O'Brien: The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), worth over £2.6 billion, will help people access opportunity in places in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities, and for people in disadvantaged groups across the UK.The UKSPF will ramp up to £1.5 billion per year in 2024-25. Further details about the UKSPF will be published in due course.

Building Safety Fund

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department estimates that all applications to the Building Safety Fund will be decided.

Christopher Pincher: We are working to progress outstanding registrations to the Building Safety Fund quickly and diligently. It is important to remember that we are reliant on building owners and managing agents providing the necessary information for us to assess their registrations to the fund. We continue to encourage many of these building owners and agents who are yet to provide the information to do so urgently.

Local Plans: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when he expects the inspector's report on City of York Council's response to the local plan process to be made available; and if he will take steps to expedite that process.

Christopher Pincher: The Local Plan remains at examination and the independent Inspector plays an important role in examining plans impartially to ensure that they are legally compliant and sound.The City of York Council published additional evidence for public consultation in the Summer and the responses have been sent to the Inspectors. The Inspectors wrote to the Council on 25 October setting out their intention to hold further hearings commencing in early 2022 to revisit a number of topic areas in order to move the examination forward as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Planning: Parliamentary Scrutiny

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to subject the upcoming planning Bill to pre-legislative scrutiny.

Christopher Pincher: The Secretary of State is considering our next steps on planning reform, alongside the Department's wider mission to level up our country and empower communities. An announcement on the way forward will be made as soon as possible.

Derelict Land: Regeneration

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much and what proportion of funding for brownfield restitution has been (a) identified for and (b) allocated to each (i) local authority and (ii) region.

Christopher Pincher: The £1.8 billion funding announced at Spending Review will help to regenerate communities and level up the country. This includes £1.5 billion to regenerate underused land and deliver transport links and community facilities, and £300 million locally led grant funding to unlock smaller brownfield sites for housing, regenerating and improving communities. Further details on how to access the funding will be provided as soon as possible This is on top the of £400 million Brownfield Housing Fund, which will help unlock 26,000 homes by bringing under-utilised brownfield land back into use and. The fund was allocated as follows:  Mayoral Combined Authority Allocation Greater Manchester £96,999,805 Liverpool City Region £44,643,420 North of Tyne £23,853,618 South Yorkshire £40,340,322 Tees Valley £19,352,315 West Midlands  £108,031,802 West Yorkshire £66,778,719 Total  £400,000,001*  *Total of £400,000,001 is due to rounding.   And also our Brownfield Land Release Fund, which has so far allocated the following: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-of-new-homes-to-be-built-and-derelict-land-transformed

Social Rented Housing: Construction

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what financial support is available for local authorities to build new homes for social rent.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing and are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme which will provide around 32,000 homes for social rent – more than double the homes for social rent in the previous Affordable Homes Programme. Local authorities are eligible for this Programme and we want to see them playing a key role in its delivery.To further support local authority delivery, the Government has taken a number of steps to support them to deliver new homes. In March 2021 we announced a package of reforms to give councils more freedom in how they can spend the money from Right to Buy sales on replacement homes, including homes for social rent. In May 2021, Homes England launched its Local Government Capacity Centre to provide councils with practical support to build their development skills and capacity. This is on top of the removal of Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap in 2018, providing local authorities greater flexibility to borrow for house building.

Regional Planning and Development

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to publish the criteria and framework used to assess successful bids to round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund bid process.

Neil O'Brien: Unsuccessful applicants received a letter from the department informing them of the outcome of the Levelling Up Fund. Officials will be in touch shortly with unsuccessful applicants to offer feedback to those whose bids passed the gateway stage.All bids were subject to the assessment process detailed in the published Levelling Up Fund Prospectus and the Technical Note. An Explanatory Note detailing the Levelling Up Fund assessment, shortlisting and decision-making processes was published on the 27 October alongside the announcement.

Regional Planning and Development

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to provide detailed feedback to hon. Members and local authorities who submitted unsuccessful bids for round 1 of the Levelling Up Fund process.

Neil O'Brien: Unsuccessful applicants received a letter from the department informing them of the outcome of the Levelling Up Fund. Officials will be in touch shortly with unsuccessful applicants to offer feedback to those whose bids passed the gateway stage.All bids were subject to the assessment process detailed in the published Levelling Up Fund Prospectus and the Technical Note. An Explanatory Note detailing the Levelling Up Fund assessment, shortlisting and decision-making processes was published on the 27 October alongside the announcement.

Coastal Areas: Government Assistance

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) Ilfracombe and (b) other coastal communities.

Neil O'Brien: As an island nation, the Government is committed to supporting coastal communities and levelling-up across the Union. We are working with local leaders to ensure every region including coastal areas, cities and towns will recover from COVID-19 and ultimately level-up.I am pleased that Ilfracombe is benefitting from a share of the £35.4 million Getting Building Fund investment across the Heart of the South West to boost economic growth, and fuel local recovery and jobs. This includes one project in the North Devon constituency: Ilfracombe Water Sports Centre, which is set to receive £1.5 million for the construction of a water sports centre and associated infrastructure on a brownfield site within Ilfracombe Harbour. The project aims to regenerate the harbour, improve and increase tourism, provide up to 101 direct and indirect jobs and support up to 300 local businesses. The centre will also provide training and events facilities.The Heart of the South West LEP was also allocated £197.8 million from the Local Growth Fund (LGF) between 2015 and 2021. Recent LGF projects in North Devon include the North Devon Innovation Centre in Roundswell and Connecting Devon and Somerset to extend superfast broadband provision.Officials will shortly be in contact with North Devon Council to discuss their unsuccessful Levelling Up Fund bid for Ilfracombe and to offer feedback to support future bids.We have continued to make significant progress in supporting coastal communities in a number of areas, demonstrated by the Coastal Communities Fund now having supported 359 projects, totalling over £229 million since 2012. North Devon Council received £1.5 million in 2019 for the new swimming pool at the North Devon Leisure Centre in Barnstaple.Our coastal economies and communities add unique value to the country and offer significant growth potential. Our commitment to unlocking this growth was demonstrated at Budget 2021, where the Chancellor announced 8 Freeports from 8 regions of England, 7 of them in coastal areas. Freeports will be national hubs for international trade, innovation and commerce, regenerating communities across the UK; attracting new businesses, spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities across the country including in coastal areas.

Parking: Codes of Practice

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if his Department will not release its response to the Parking Code of Practice Technical Consultation until (a) after the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee has published its report on his Department's handling of the process to date and (b) his Department has considered that report's recommendations.

Neil O'Brien: The 'Private parking charges, discount rates, debt collection fees and appeals charter: further technical consultation' was published on 30 July. It contained proposals to bring private parking charges into closer alignment with Local Authority Penalty Charge Notices, along with a number of other measures to improve the private parking sector. The consultation closed on 27 August and the department is now analysing the responses. We will consider the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee hearings. However, our current intention is to publish the consultation response together with the new Code of Practice as soon as possible so that motorists can benefit and industry has time to adapt itself to the new requirements.

Probation

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent estimate she has made of the resource impact for local authorities of increases in the population under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements supervision.

Kemi Badenoch: Local authorities are under a statutory duty to co-operate with the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangement (MAPPA) responsible authority in each of the 42 MAPPA areas in England and Wales. Councils should also review the Ministry of Justice’s reoffending statistics, which are published quarterly and consider the potential impact for them and their budgets Councils will receive around £1.6 billion additional funding for each year of the Spending Review, including funding for the expansion of the Supporting Families programme and to improve cyber resilience Core Spending Power – the main measure used for the income of councils – is forecast to increase by an average of 3% in real terms each year over the next three years, including investment in Adult Social Care reform. This funding will empower councils to make decisions tailored to their own local needs and priorities Further details on how this money will be allocated to councils will be announced in Parliament in the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement later this year.

Housing: Carbon Emissions

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many carbon neutral homes have been built in (a) Weaver Vale, (b) the North West and (c) the UK since 2017.

Eddie Hughes: The requested information is not centrally collected and EPCs are a delegated matter in Scotland and Northern Ireland. However, the EPC Open Data dataset, in respect of England and Wales, does include an Environmental Impact Rating (EIR) which is a measure of the net level of carbon emissions arising from the building’s heating, hot water and lighting systems offset against any on-site renewable energy sources such as solar panels. Thus, an analysis of this freely available data for the relevant locations would provide an indication of the number of carbon neutral homes. It should be noted that the EIR does not take into account emissions associated with unregulated energy use – i.e. appliances and plug loads.The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it.From 2025, the Future Homes Standard will ensure that new homes produce at least 75% fewer CO2 emissions than those built to current standards. This represents a considerable improvement in energy efficiency standards for new homes. Homes built to the Future Homes Standard will be zero carbon ready, with the ability to decarbonise over time alongside the national grid without any further energy efficiency retrofit work.Later this year we will introduce an interim uplift in building standards that delivers a meaningful reduction in carbon emissions and provides a stepping stone to the Future Homes Standard in 2025. Once the uplift comes into force, new homes will be expected to produce 31% less CO2 emissions compared to current standards. This will deliver high-quality homes that are in line with our broader housing commitments and encourage homes that are future-proofed for the longer-term.

Homelessness and Sleeping Rough: Shropshire

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how much funding the Government has provided to help tackle homelessness and rough sleeping in (a) Shropshire and (b) Telford and Wrekin since 2018-19.

Eddie Hughes: Over £3.6 million funding has been allocated to Shropshire council to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping since 2018-19.Furthermore, over £3.6 million funding has been allocated to Telford and Wrekin Council to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping since 2018-19.Overall, the Government has committed over £800 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year, further demonstrating the Government's commitment to end rough sleeping this Parliament and fully enforce the Homelessness Reduction Act.

Cabinet Office

Death

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans he has to record causation of excess deaths in winter 2021-22; and if he will ensure that covid-19, flu and community/hospital acquired pneumonia are separately identified in those statistics.

Michael Ellis: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond.Letter from the National StatisticianProfessor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician9 November 2021As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking about plans to record the causation of excess deaths in winter 2021-22; and whether COVID-19, influenza and community or hospital acquired pneumonia will be separately identified in those statistics (69656).The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports on ‘Excess Winter Mortality for England and Wales’ [1] annually. Excess winter mortality is estimated by comparing the winter months of December to March with the average of the four-month periods before and after. The next report on excess winter mortality is due for release on 26 November 2021, and will provide final estimates for the 2019 to 2020 winter period and provisional estimates for the 2020 to 2021 winter period. Corresponding figures for winter 2021/22 will be published in autumn 2022.The data published on excess winter mortality will include estimates both including and excluding COVID-19. The provisional estimates for winter 2020/21 will include a specific estimate for deaths with an underlying cause of COVID-19 and new breakdowns by place of death. Cause of death groupings reported in addition to COVID-19 will be respiratory diseases, Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, circulatory diseases, and injury and poisoning.Separately, the regular report on ‘Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales’ [2] allows excess deaths each week to be calculated relative to the average for the corresponding week in the years 2015-19. Weekly figures are provided for deaths by all causes aggregated, and for respiratory diseases, influenza and pneumonia, and COVID-19. The information held by the ONS is based on the particulars recorded in the process of death registration, and does not specify the place where an infectious disease was acquired.Yours sincerely,Professor Sir Ian Diamond1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/excesswintermortalityinenglandandwales/previousReleases2. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest

Cabinet Office: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many jobs in his Department will be placed (a) in York and (b) on the York Central site in York; and what the job titles are of those roles.

Michael Ellis: (a) The Cabinet Office has committed to increasing its presence from c. 400 to c. 600 in York. This will be a mix of Senior Civil Service and delegated grades covering a range of professions such as HR, Commercial, Policy, Security, Finance, Project Delivery and Operational Delivery. All jobs will move to the new hub, the location and timing of which has yet to be decided. (b) Cabinet Office jobs are likely to move to a new Hub; the location and timing of which has yet to be decided.

Treasury

Banks: Corporation Tax

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the increase in corporation tax on the revenue of UK banks in each of the next ten financial years.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the increase in corporation tax on UK bank profits ​in each of the next ten financial years.

John Glen: The Exchequer impacts of the increase in corporation taxes announced in the 2021 Spring Budget are set out in table 5.2 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review document. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents

Boats: Non-domestic Rates

Bob Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the business rate reduction for the (a) retail, (b) leisure and (c) hospitality sectors announced in the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 will apply to the leisure marine industry.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether food and drink wholesalers will be eligible for the 50 per cent business rates relief discount available to the retail, leisure and hospitality industry.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether food and drink wholesalers will be eligible for the 50 per cent business rates relief discount.

Andrew Lewer: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Government plans to publish guidance on  which businesses will be eligible for the 50 per cent business rates relief discount; and whether high street adult gaming centres are planned to be eligible.

Lucy Frazer: Guidance setting out eligibility for the 2022-23 retail, hospitality and leisure relief will be published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in due course.

Banks: Corporation Tax

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decrease in the Bank Corporation Tax Surcharge in each of the next 10 financial years.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the decrease in the bank surcharge on revenue in each of the next ten financial years.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the decrease in the bank surcharge on bank profits in each of the next ten financial years.

John Glen: The Exchequer impacts of the decrease in the Bank Surcharge rate announced 2021 Autumn Budget are set out in table 5.1 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review document 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-and-spending-review-2021-documents The Exchequer impacts assume that changing the tax rate will increase the incentive on banking companies to shift profits into the UK.

Tobacco: Smuggling

Mr Robert Goodwill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the EU's common positions ahead of the WHO’s Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products; and whether the UK delegation plans to support those positions at that meeting in November.

Mr Robert Goodwill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what positions the UK Government plans to take on the agenda items being discussed at the WHO Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products in November 2021; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: The UK is a Party to the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products (the Protocol), which supports our objective to improve international coordination to tackle tobacco fraud at all points in the supply chain. The UK position on the various agenda items at the coming Meeting of the Parties (MOP) to the Protocol is being determined in advance of the meeting and will take account of how best to achieve this objective and whether the proposals being put forward are likely to be the most effective. No assessment has been made of any Party’s final detailed position for the MOP. However, the objectives of all Parties within the Europe region of the Protocol are often closely aligned.The Government does not plan to make a statement.

Air Passenger Duty

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of his decision to reduce air passenger duty levied on short haul flights on levels of carbon emissions from air travel.

Helen Whately: Aviation accounts for around 8% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. International aviation is responsible for the vast majority of this contribution and accounted for 37 MtCO2e in 2019, whereas domestic aviation was responsible for 1.5 MtCO2e – equivalent to less than 1% of the UK’s total emissions in 2019. At Budget, the Government announced that, from April 2023, it will introduce a new reduced domestic band of Air Passenger Duty (APD), covering flights between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in order to support connectivity across the UK. In addition, the Government will introduce a new ultra long-haul band, which will ensure that those who fly furthest, and have the greatest environmental impact, will pay the most. Furthermore, domestic aviation is included within the scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which sets a cap on the total amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by sectors covered by the scheme.

Paraffin: Taxation

Alex Sobel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his reasoning is for not applying tax on kerosene used on passenger flights.

Helen Whately: Members of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), including the United Kingdom, are prevented from taxing international aviation fuel, or any proxies for fuel, under the Chicago Convention. However, Air Passenger Duty – which raised £3.6 billion in 2019-20 – ensures that the air travel sector contributes to the cost of public services.

Air Passenger Duty

Alex Sobel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of potential effect of the change in (a) passenger numbers and (b) carbon emitted following the abolishment of Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights.

Helen Whately: At Budget, the Government announced that, from April 2023, it will introduce a new reduced domestic band of Air Passenger Duty (APD) set at £6.50 for economy passengers. The new domestic band will cover flights between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in order to support connectivity across the UK. As a result, around 9 million passengers will pay less APD in 2023/24. In addition, the Government will introduce a new ultra long-haul band, which will ensure that those who fly furthest, and have the greatest environmental impact, will pay the most. Aviation accounts for around 8% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. International aviation is responsible for the vast majority of this contribution and accounted for 37 MtCO2e in 2019, whereas domestic aviation was responsible for 1.5 MtCO2e – equivalent to less than 1% of the UK’s total emissions in 2019. Additionally, domestic aviation is included within the scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which sets a cap on the total amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by sectors covered by the scheme.

Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Sarah Champion: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.46 of the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021, on the settlement for the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, what estimate he has made of (a) how much and what proportion of the settlement for that Fund will be (i) Official Development Assistance (ODA) and (ii) non-Official Development Assistance, (b) how much of the settlement for that Fund will be allocated to tackle the increased threat posed by the deterioration of the security in Afghanistan and (c) how much and what proportion of that Fund’s ODA settlement will be spent on (A) discretionary and (B) non-discretionary activities.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Conflict, Stability and Security Fund will receive £355.2m ODA in 2022-23; £360.7m in 2023-24; and £366.3m in 2024-25. ODA makes up 40% of the Fund’s 2022-23 settlement and 41% in future years. £82.0m (c. 23%) of the Fund’s ODA is allocated for non-discretionary pressures in each year. The Fund will also receive £522.3m non-ODA in 2022-23; £522.7m in 2023-24; and £523.0m in 2024-25. Non-ODA makes up 60% of the Fund’s settlement in 2022-23 and 59% in later years. Portfolio allocations, including for tackling increased threats from the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan, will be decided by the National Security Council and its sub-committees.

COP26

UN Climate Conference 2021: Disability

Ruth Jones: To ask the President of COP26, if the Government will conduct an inquiry into accessibility at COP26 for people with disabilities.

Michael Ellis: We remain committed to an inclusive COP26 that is accessible to all; the venue was designed to facilitate that. The permanent structures are fully wheelchair accessible and the venue holds gold level accessibility status. For the temporary structures a complete accessibility audit was completed and they are fully compliant. There are blue badge spaces for the conference, along with two fully accessible shuttle routes.

Women and Equalities

Females: Armed Forces

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions her Department has had with the Ministry of Defence on ensuring women can access careers in the Armed Forces.

Kemi Badenoch: Equality Hub Ministers have frequent discussions with Ministerial colleagues from across government on a range of equalities issues.The Ministry of Defence aims to significantly improve the recruitment and retention of women in the Armed Forces with the ambition to achieve 30% inflow of women by 2030. To realise this goal, the single Services have taken a range of steps to improve the experience of women in the Armed Forces, as they continue to do for all serving personnel. This includes all roles being open to women, targeted programmes to increase the recruitment of women, introducing flexible service, flexible and parental leave, the provision of sanitary boxes, and reviewing women specific combat requirements.